Senator Walczyk Gets Minimum Maintenance Roads Legislation Passed Through Senate

Senator Mark Walczyk is proud to announce that his bill, S6249 has passed the Senate and is heading to the Governor’s desk to become law. This bill, which Minority Leader Will Barclay carried in the Assembly, will amend the vehicle and traffic law to establish minimum maintenance roads in the Town of Lorraine. 

Minimum Maintenance roads were established by the NYS Local Roads Research and Coordination Council to define standards for low-volume road classifications. The purpose in designating low-volume roads is to reduce costs associated with bringing such roads to state or national design standards. Establishing the minimum maintenance designation would allow the Town of Lorraine to more effectively utilize its limited resources by focusing maintenance on roads that are fully utilized by its residents.

“This bill is important for Lorraine. The town will now have the ability to classify certain roads as low-volume which means the highway department can focus funding and efforts precisely where they need to," Walczyk said. "I’m proud to get this bill passed in the Senate and thank Minority Leader Barclay for his great efforts carrying it through the Assembly.”

“I’m pleased this bill has now passed both houses of the Legislature and appreciate Sen. Walczyk’s collaborative efforts on the measure, said Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay. “The ability to designate lightly used roadways as “minimum maintenance roads” will allow for greater budget flexibility, improved focus on priority roads and will benefit the Town of Lorraine and its residents.``

“Passage of this home rule bill authorizing the town of Lorraine to establish minimum maintenance roads is a big win for Lorraine and a great step forward for towns across Tug Hill, who along with the Tug Hill Commission and the region’s councils of governments have been advocating for this issue for decades, said Katie Malinowski, Executive Director of the NYS Tug Hill Commission. “Thank you to Senator Walczyk and Minority Leader Barclay for being strong supporters of this effort.”

“Having the ability to classify roads as minimum maintenance allows the Town of Lorraine to utilize taxpayer dollars and grants much needed budget flexibility,"  said Town of Lorraine Highway Superintendent Joseph Wasilewski. "We now have the ability to reallocate funding that was earmarked to upkeep lightly used roads and use those funds to make our heavily traveled roads better than ever. I thank Senator Walczyk and Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay for carrying this bill to be passed in the legislature, and thank Katie Malinowski with the Tug Hill Commission for all her hard work in delivering this win for the Town of Lorraine."