Mayor de Blasio Announces DOT is Repaving more Roads than Budgeted in Current Fiscal Year

June 7, 2016

Original FY16 budget planned for 1,200 lane-miles of roadways to be repaved prior to June 30th; with good weather and lower prices for oil, a primary ingredient in asphalt, in-house road crews are paving an additional 65 lane-miles citywide

Increased output follows administration’s historic investment in road repaving – $1.6 billion over next ten years – that has already dramatically decreased potholes

NEW YORK––Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that the Department of Transportation (DOT) would expand the number of roadways being repaved in the fiscal year ending this month, extending the 1,200 lane-miles originally planned for repaving by 65 lane-miles – equivalent to the distance from New York City to the Delaware Water Gap. The administration took advantage of favorable oil prices and drier weather this season to increase the output.

“New Yorkers who pump their own gas certainly know that lower oil prices are allowing us to keep more money in our wallets these days,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “For the City, lower prices at the pump also means that the oil we buy to produce asphalt has been cheaper, allowing us to make even more of it. I thank Commissioner Trottenberg and the hard-working DOT work crews for taking advantage of these lower prices and good weather to increase their productivity to get even more of our streets repaved. From Gun Hill Road up in the Bronx down to the streets around the Staten Island Mall, drivers all around the City will be feeling the effects.”

“Mayor de Blasio’s historic investment in resurfacing has allowed DOT to be nimble and take advantage of factors that worked in our favor this spring,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “DOT work crews, from those producing asphalt to those putting it down on our roads, deserve serious credit for stepping up to keep our roadways smoothly paved and safe. Because of their hard work, New Yorkers are both enjoying smooth rides and noticing fewer potholes, with complaints down by almost 50 percent this year.”

DOT announced that streets being repaved sooner than originally scheduled by work crews, both in-house and by contract, include Gun Hill Road, Bronx Park East and East 233rd Street in the Bronx; North and South Conduit Boulevards in Brooklyn; Utopia Parkway and Ditmars Boulevard in Queens; Third Avenue in Manhattan; and Richmond Road and Forest Hill Road on Staten Island. To alleviate possible traffic caused by work on these major arterial roadways, DOT is scheduled to mill and re-pave these streets exclusively during overnight hours in June. 

“Drivers cannot afford to lose time, money or worse from an accident caused by a pothole or broken pavement,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. “The City's street repaving initiative will rightly restore our infrastructure along North and South Conduit Boulevards and protect the safety of the many vehicles using our roads. I commend Mayor de Blasio and DOT Commissioner Trottenberg for their commitment to keeping Brooklyn drivers on the move.”

“The investment is worth the return when it comes to resurfacing. It’s a critical component of upkeep that defrays costs in the long run to the city, public transit and motorists. Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Trottenberg have made the right call to seize the opportunity. In doing so they’ll lower costs and expand the range of the resurfacing project,” said State Senator Martin Malave Dilan.

“As we get closer to summer and look to attract more visitors to our beaches and other warm-weather attractions, having more miles of smoother, safer, driver-friendly roadways in Queens and elsewhere in the City will be both a pleasant surprise for motorists and a boon for our local economy,” said State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. “I congratulate the DOT for taking advantage of lower oil prices and moving forward to more quickly repair an important part of our infrastructure.”

“Potholes are a driver’s everyday nightmare, not only because of the possible damages they can cause to vehicles, but because they also create unsafe driving situations. Continuing to repave the hundreds and hundreds of miles of lanes in the City is vital to improving roadway conditions. I want to thank Mayor Bill de Blasio and Commissioner Polly Trottenberg for their efforts to increase the number of roads that will be repaved during this fiscal year, making drives smoother and much safer,” said State Senator Jose Peralta. 

Assembly Member Michael Cusick said, "As two of Staten Island's major thoroughfares, the scheduled repaving of Richmond Road and Forest Hill Road is welcome news for the thousands of motorists who travel these roads on a daily basis. Whether someone is commuting to work, headed shopping or picking up their children from school, this commitment by Mayor de Blasio and DOT will surely result in a smoother and safer trip for all, and I thank them for their efforts."

"Ask Staten Islanders what's the most annoying part of driving Staten Island streets and the answer will be potholes. Increased repaving is a tremendous and welcome development. Everyone knows that jarring feeling when hitting a pothole and the costly inconvenience of replacing a damaged tire or rim. Keeping such experiences to a minimum is always good policy and I, along with other Staten Islanders, appreciate it," said Assembly Member Nicole Malliotakis.

"The Department of Transportation is doing more this spring, taking advantage of great conditions to efficiently deliver for New Yorkers," said Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, Chair of the Committee on Transportation. "We're seeing major improvements in road conditions, which lead to safer driving and less damage to vehicles. The DOT's ability to pave more streets than the Council budgeted for should be a model for agencies across the city, and I commend Commissioner Trottenberg and her team for their great work."

"I applaud Mayor de Blasio and the Department of Transportation for surpassing their mile marker for this year in repaving roads across our much traveled city. Road repair is an important quality of life improvement, that the administration has made a priority and for which everyone benefits," said Council Member Andrew Cohen.

In 2015, the Mayor announced a $1.6 billion commitment to resurface roads all over the city over the next decade, with 2,500 lane miles to be resurfaced in the current and the next fiscal year (FY16 and FY17). In December, 2015, the Mayor announced that the FDR Drive had been comprehensively repaved for the first time in 50 years – both ahead of schedule and under budget. In March, the Mayor and Commissioner Trottenberg announced the ceremonial filling of the administration’s one-millionth pothole, noting that with the historic investment in repaving, the need for pothole repair had declined dramatically.

DOT both procures and produces asphalt at its two plants for resurfacing and filling potholes. In 2016, DOT anticipates using over 1.3 million tons of asphalt.