The Town of Brookhaven received a $380,000 grant from the U.S Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All program. The grant will go towards improving roadway safety planning and infrastructure.
U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) announced the funding on Wednesday, on Feb. 15, alongside Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine, Councilman Dan Panico and Highway Superintendent Daniel Losquadro at a fire station in Terryville.
Brookhaven is among several towns nationwide to receive this grant, and is the only one in Suffolk County. The town has over 3,500 miles of road miles, the largest number of roadways in Long Island.
“We’re concerned about our roads,” Romaine said. “These federal dollars will help us maintain them, make them safer and ensure that some of that infrastructure money that we’ve heard about is reinvested here locally for the benefit of our taxpayers and our residents.”
The money will help support Brookhaven’s Vision Zero Action Plan, which works to prevent traffic fatalities. The grant pays for the lion’s share of the plan, which is expected to cost around $475,000. It will go towards making improvements in road quality through examining accident and fatality data compiled in conjunction with the DMV and Department of Transportation, Losquadro said.
He said the town was “very aggressive” in pursuing grants. “For us to be the only recipient locally of a grant like this speaks volumes to the fact that state and federal agencies have tremendous respect and trust in us for the work that we do,” he said. “They know that we are going to spend this money wisely.”
LaLota, a Republican freshman in the House, said a key responsibility for his first-term in Congress is to provide resources to improve infrastructure on Long Island. He said that for every dollar sent to Congress, Long Islanders only receive 93 cents back.
“The average home here on Long Island pays approximately $15,000 in taxes,” LaLota said. “And what people expect in return are safe streets, good schools and smooth roads.”
LaLota, a member of the SALT caucus, also wants to restore state and local tax deductions, curbed under the Trump administration in 2017 and expected to sunset in two years. The tax deductions capped at $10,000 disrupts homeowners from high-tax states, including New York.
