Higgins Says:  “…for the good of the public we have no choice but to abolish the New York State Thruway Authority…”

STATEMENT BY CONGRESSMAN HIGGINS

“Today I learned that the New York State Thruway Authority is again turning its back on Western New York by rescinding funding for a $45 million project planned for Grand Island, New York and transferring money promised to this region to another downstate project. 

The Thruway Authority justified their 2005 toll increase with the need to fund several local projects including the one planned for Grand Island.  This represents a disturbing pattern of promises made and promises broken by the Authority.  Between 2007 and 2010 the Authority will fall $200 million short in promised projects in the Thruway’s Buffalo Division. 

This public Authority has used their absolute power to impose an astonishing 45% increase in tolls in just five years.  We have put up with the Authority’s alarming trend of mismanagement and deception for far too long.  Fortunately, we already have a state agency charged with managing our roadways, which makes the Thruway Authority redundant and unnecessary.  It is clear that for the good of the public we have no choice but to abolish the Thruway Authority and move operation of the Thruway to the New York State Department of Transportation, an agency that is more publicly accountable than the Thruway Authority.

Local residents can’t afford business as usual at the Authority, and if they won’t change their deceptive ways, they have to go.  New Yorkers deserve Thruway oversight that is transparent and accountable.”