KJ gets 2M , woodbury none Thanks Hillary!

July 29, 2005Highway bill includes $11M for Rte. 17 By Paul Ertelt Ottaway News Service Peottaway@aol.com An $11 million allocation for improvements to Route 17 – the major artery through Orange and Sullivan counties – is among some $16.5 billion in federal highway and transit dollars slotted for New York over the next six years. The funding was approved yesterday by a House-Senate conference committee on which Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., served. The House was expected to vote late yesterday on the $286.4 billion highway and mass transit bill, designed to create construction jobs in every state, with the Senate likely to follow today. The bill includes $10 million for upgrades to Route 17 in seven counties. There is also an additional $1 million for planning and design work for a project to widen Route 17 from four to six lanes from Harriman to Monticello. The highway is frequently congested in the summer and the situation is expected to get worse if plans for Catskill casinos come to fruition. The bill also earmarks $3 million for the City of Newburgh, including $1.5 million to build noise suppression barriers along Interstate 84 in the Meadow Hill area. There is also $1.5 million for upgrading traffic signals and paving. The bill also includes: - $2 million for improvements in the Village of Kiryas Joel, including road paving and new sidewalks. - $1.1 million for road rehabilitation at Sullivan County Community College, including rehabilitation of College Road from Route 52 to the Loop Road. - $1.04 million for improvements to the Kingston waterfront and $1.04 million for streetscape improvements in uptown Kingston. - $960,000 for beautification projects in the Village of Saugerties historic district. - $400,000 to build a visitor's center and other improvements at Sam's Point Preserve in Ellenville. The $16.5 billion figure for New York projects is roughly 19 percent more than the previous six-year package. That previous six-year package boosted New York transportation dollars by 43 percent. The deal finalized Wednesday would, near the end of the six-year program, guarantee each state receives at least 92 cents in federal grants for every dollar contributed to the Highway Trust Fund through gas taxes. The highly anticipated bill has foundered for two years because of disagreements between the House and Senate and a threat of presidential veto if the bill's total cost exceeded limits imposed by the White House. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Two million for sidewalks and roads has she ever driven on our town roads or rt 32 on a weekend when its shopping season. Its always about votes and roads are like blocks fix them she gets all them.