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At the latest Board of Trustees meeting, new Mayor Jon Mark – his first in charge since being elected – announced nearly $1.3 million has been appropriated for road repairs along 3.5 miles of village roads as they continue recovering from a harsh winter.
Mark noted repairs have begun, with crews from the Department of Public Works already at work filling in potholes. The $1.3 million has been allotted for the village year that ends in May.
“We all drive on the same roads in Scarsdale. This board and mayor is very much aware of the poor condition of many of the roads in Scarsdale. We are reminded of that, rightfully, by the residents,” Mark said. “In the meantime, there have been three DPW trucks for the last month and a half repairing potholes as they come across them and to respond to residents who call in need of pothole repair.”
The state of local, county and state roads have become a concern for residents and politicians alike. Recently, state Assemblyman Tom Abinanti called on the Department of Transportation to set up emergency repair programs to improve safety. He has sponsored legislature that would create an “interactive map” to show motorists where the most significant repairs were needed.
“The recent extraordinary weather has had an extraordinary impact on our state roadways, which requires an extraordinary response,” he said. “The website would allow drivers to assist the department in prioritizing work and also allow drivers to plan their routes with a map showing where potholes have been reported before venturing out on the roads.”
Robert Sinclair Jr., the AAA New York media manager, cited a combination of events that led to the fractured roads throughout the state.
“An unprecedented combination of weather, roads already in poor condition and the inordinate number of trucks in our region have led to an epic number of potholes,” he said. “The situation is a stark reminder of the need to ensure that the federal highway trust fund is adequately financed so that our crumbling infrastructure can be rebuilt.”
Mark said while the appropriation will help Scarsdale in the short term, the village still is in for a fight against Mother Nature come winter.
“We are addressing this in the short term, and if there needs to be a longer term solution to be considered than we will consider it,” he said. “In this temperate zone, winters happen every year, so we’re going to have to deal with potholes on our roads no matter what. We’re addressing the roads as best we can with the resources we have.”
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