Dive Brief:
- The 2015 Menino Survey of Mayors finds that almost half of mayors who responded to the survey consider infrastructure their biggest state- or federally-reliant challenge over the next five years or more, Engineering News-Record reported. Nearly all mayors who highlighted infrastructure say it's their most pressing problem, citing a lack of funding.
- If given enough funding, roads would be the mayors' top public works projects (66%), followed by transit (40%) and water-wastewater-stormwater (40%).
- If provided unlimited funds, 22% of mayors say they would tackle mass transit, then roads (20%) and water infrastructure (18%).
Dive Insight:
The 66% of mayors who selected roads as their top priority, the report says, represent "a striking level of accord for an open-ended question," as no other topic received more than 20% of the mayors' responses, ENR reported.
Mayors are not alone in making infrastructure projects a high priority. Governors from New York, New Hampshire and Georgia have already announced multi-billion dollar infrastructure initiatives for their states this year.
Last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced a $100 billion statewide infrastructure plan during his State of the State speech. Cuomo says he will create more than 250,000 jobs through projects such as the Penn Station renovation, a $22 billion road and bridge project in upstate NY, a third track for the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line, and a $1 billion expansion of New York City’s main conference facility, the Javits Center.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal last week also announced his $10 billion, 10-year transportation investment plan. The first 18-month portion costs $2.2 billion and covers the resurfacing of roads, replacement and repair of bridges and the widening of several interstates and highways.
And just a few days ago, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan submitted a $3.7 billion, 10-year transportation plan to the state legislature to repair deficient bridges, widen Interstate 93 and resurface an extra 200 miles of road per year, among other road and bridge projects.
Lawmakers, however, denied Hassan $4 million for a study on bringing Boston's commuter rail into New Hampshire. Hassan says mass transit is necessary to attract business and young people to the area, but state legislators questioned the economic payoff of the plan.