BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Roads in the City of Buffalo are destined for improvement after a more than $16 million investment from the state, Senator Tim Kennedy announced Friday alongside city officials.
The investment represents a 185% increase in funding compared to last year's budget allocation.
"We increased by nearly 1/3 of a billion dollars all across New York State an investment in local roads," Kennedy said. "We increased CHIPS funding that hadn't seen that increase in nearly a decade by $100 million...The City of Buffalo and every other municipality across the state will see that 23% increase, that's nearly $1 million in an increase in CHIPS funding for local road maintenance in the City of Buffalo."
Buffalo will now get $5 million in CHIPS, or the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program funding, nearly $1 million for the extreme winter recovery funds, $1.4 million in the PAVE-NY funds, and $8.7 million for "City Touring Routes", which was previously non-existent in the budget. The City Touring Routes is based on the centerline miles of non-state highway roads in municipalities, such as Delaware Avenue and Bailey Avenue. Previously, cities were previously told they were responsible for maintaining state roads that were within their municipalities.
"CHIPS funding is the gold-standard of funding for transportation officials," Buffalo Public Works Commissioner Mike Finn said. "CHIPS funding is the most flexible and best type of funding for any transportation official because of the amount of work and type of work. There's very few strings. What CHIPS is about is improving roadways and maintaining quality of life."
Mayor Byron Brown said they hope to address is the area around the Freedom Wall.
"The Freedom Wall highlights African American history and heritage," Brown said. "That is one of the projects we will be able to fund with this nearly $11 million in street repair and infrastructure money."
Kennedy said to expect perpetual investment over the next several years because of the creation of the City Touring Routes.
