Gov. Kathy Hochul pledges $1 billion to fix pothole nightmare on LIE, other Long Island highways
LONG ISLAND -- Tire-popping potholes and motorists are feeling the pinch.
As CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported Tuesday, the infrastructure is so bad on Long Island that Gov. Kathy Hochul made a special trip to offer solutions and listen to the complaints.
"The danger of it is immense," Stewart Till said.
Till, of East Hampton, was not planning to eat his lunch on the edge of the Long Island Expressway.
"A few hundred yards back I hit a big pothole and, bang, it burst the tire," Till said.
He was told his wait was two hours for a tow truck.
"I could have flipped, could've moved into another lane, could have been hit by a passing truck," Till said.
READ MORE: Long Island drivers pleading with local, state officials to fix potholes
As many as 240,000 vehicles per day pass through Nassau and Suffolk counties on the LIE. Deterioration gets worse by the day.
"Every two years the LIE, Interstate 495, is supposed to be repaved. Well, they are three years behind on doing it as we speak," said Frank D'Amato of Deer Park.
"It's literally like you're in a video game. You have to dodge them left and right," added Melody Forgione of Mastic.
Forgione said while on her way to work she blew two tires and rims. She had just transferred their children into her husband's vehicle.
"The entire side of the car went airborne," Forgione said.
Tow truck drivers can barely keep up with emergencies on Long Island's state roads. Meanwhile, drivers are left figuring out how to pay for damages.
Some want the state budget money earmarked for the Buffalo Bills stadium instead diverted to fixing the LIE.
"The bottom line is, the LIE is a disgrace. There are potholes everywhere. If Hochul would have taken the $650 million and fixed our roads, we wouldn't be having it," Huntington resident Bob Achtziger said.
The governor addressed the issue Tuesday.
"Everybody is complaining about potholes," she said. "They give us this big welcome when I'm on Long Island because they're enormous," Hochul said.
The governor said she hears the cries from the suburbs and is now pledging $1 billion in funding for her statewide war on potholes.
"How does a billion dollars sound? A billion dollars for 'Operation: Pave our Potholes,'" she said.
It will begin with $157 million for key sections of the LIE, Southern State Parkway and Meadowbrook State Parkway.
"Now you have to have total reconstruction, and these dollars will do that," said Marc Herbst of the Long Island Contractors Association. "You wont have to fill a pothole. You will be replacing a roadway from top to bottom."
A decision on how to divvy up the rest of the $24 billion in federal infrastructure aid is forthcoming. Drivers say they don't want any shell games.
