Whenever he drives on Staten Island , he feels it. When he attends events in the community or simply shops in a local store, constituents come up to him to ask about it. It seems as if all Staten Islanders are talking about the horrific conditions of our roads. No street is immune. For this reason, New York City Council Minority Leader James S. Oddo (R- Mid-Island) has asked NYC DOT to convene a “Road Conditions Summit” meeting to be held as soon as possible.
Oddo understands that DOT has been working hard to try and catch up after heavy winter snows led to spring showers, but this is a challenge that is not week or days in curing – but years. Bad street “seasons” beget more bad street “seasons.” That is why Oddo believes that the efforts must go beyond potholes. In a letter, dated March 30, 2010 to DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Oddo wrote:
“Staten Islanders expect their government to have an answer for this problem. Each day chassis are rattled, patience is tried and calls for real solutions grow. Every day, more and more Islanders approach my colleagues and I asking (sometimes a bit less respectful than that) why our roads are so poor and wanting to know what we are doing to fix them. Many of our constituents have understood since they understand the role that the weather played on our streets, but they do want and expect a long-term plan to address the problem. I believe they are entitled to that.
“As you know, at a recent meeting Deputy Commissioner David Woloch, Borough President Molinaro, Council Member Vincent Ignizio, Deputy Borough President Ed Burke and I spoke about the need for immediate, mid-term, and long-term solutions…
“To improve our roads we want to use whatever political capital we have to get you more resources. We know that you need those resources to have the ability to pave more Staten Island roads. You know that I am a firm believer that the answer is in milling more roads and paving curb to curb. Last budget, the City Council’s Staten Island Delegation allocated $2 million to DOT to preserve your street resurfacing operations in our borough. This was unprecedented in our Island ’s history. The issue was that important to us then and it remains so. We are literally invested in helping you deliver drivable roads that Staten Islanders deserve and expect.
“We have already reached out to Mayor Bloomberg (see the attached letter) and his staff and Speaker Christine Quinn about the importance of securing more resources for street resurfacing. Again, we want to help you and the men and women of DOT with whatever resources we can secure from our partners in government.
“I think it is important to get those individuals within DOT specifically charged with the duties of maintaining and improving road conditions – those decision makers both locally and citywide – in the same room on Staten Island so that together we can better understand DOT’s resurfacing operation and forge an agenda for addressing what clearly is a short and long term challenge.”
Oddo notes that entrance and exit ramps on the service roads are in particularly poor shape. As he receives reports of locations that are in bad condition from constituents he forwards them to DOT, but this piecemeal approach will never bring about smooth roads. The Road Conditions Summit would help define immediate, mid-term, and longer term solutions to fix the problem instead of merely patching over it for a few months at a time.
Oddo said, “Good roads are a basic right and government not providing the basics at a time when every level of government is reaching into our pockets is a source of much anger. Other states are also dealing with the road mess left in the wake of this winter, but our problems have been continuous and pre-dated the poor winter weather and the cycle has only been worsened. With the current approach we will never get to a point where we have smooth roads.”
Below is the letter Oddo sent to DOT.
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