The town/village of Harrison approved a bond proposal for various roadway repairs in an effort to better driving conditions, according to town officials.
On April 6, the Harrison Town Council approved funding $1.8 million on roads, a proposal that was put forth by Anthony Robinson, the commissioner of public works.
As part of the commissioner’s capital plan, the town will spend approximately $2 million for the road resurfacing project, which came to fruition following a survey that was conducted two years ago analyzing roadway conditions throughout Harrison.
According to the town comptroller’s office, $250,000 of the spending will be reimbursed by the state Department of Transportation through its Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program, CHIPS, which was established by the state Legislature in 1981.
“We’re excited to be moving forward to continue to improve our infrastructure,” said Mayor Ron Belmont, a Republican.
The project comes just after several other recent repairs, including the replacement of a gas main and road resurfacing on Halstead Avenue by the county Department of Public Works in conjunction with Con Edison. That construction completed at the end of 2016 after getting started in August of that year.
Belmont said the roadway repairs come as a way of playing catch-up for improvements that were never made during the economic recession in 2008. He explained the town struggled to put forward any significant road repair proposals between 2008 and 2012 as a result.
“We let it go for a while, but we’ve done some improvements over the past three years and the conditions are getting much better,” Belmont added.
Councilman Stephen Malfitano, a Republican, furthered that sentiment saying the road resurfacing bond would be an investment into the town’s future.
“We’re in a good position today financially, and we’re making a better future by investing the money now,” the councilman said.
The councilman added that the project will allow the town to keep a close watch on the conditions of the roads as time progresses. He said that with a 20-year life expectancy, the town would be better prepared to fix minor cracks and splits in the roads.
“Once we get past the next couple of years we’ll be able to say we’ve made major headway on road repairs,” Malfitano said.
The bond doesn’t require immediate voter approval. However, it’s subject to a permissive referendum, which means it can be rejected if a petition is filed to the town clerk; the petition would require 10 percent of registered voters’ signatures from the total number of residents that casted votes during the last gubernatorial election.
There is currently no time frame for when the repairs will kick off.
Town Engineer Michael Amodeo could not be reached for comment, as of press time.
