New York this week approved millions of dollars for road and highway projects.

Many of these are projects you wouldn't notice much on the street driving by, but the money could mean a major boost for the state's flagging economy amid a pandemic induced recession.

What You Need To Know


  • New York has OK'd millions of dollars for highway improvement projects

  • The money had initially been delayed, causing concern for local government officials

  • Contractors hope this could be a boost for the economy and jobs

Governor Andrew Cuomo, on Wednesday in Queens at LaGuardia Airport, pointed to major development efforts that use private money as a potential recovery source. 

"Now is the time you want to see government investing, the private sector investing, in building large scale developments you know can help drive economic growth," Cuomo said. 

But New York's recovery could also take the route of smaller scale road and bridge improvement projects. This week, the state approved $438 million in funding for those efforts, saving jobs in the process, says Mike Elmendorf, the president and CEO of the Associated General Contractors.

"I heard from just one of our members who said that as a result of that he was able to call off what would have been 700 layoffs in one company," he said. "So we're talking about a lot of jobs. You're talking about keeping people working. You're also talking about keeping people off unemployment."

Much of the money is coming from bonding, meaning the state's cash flow, strained by the lack of tax revenue, won't take a major hit from the money's approval.

New York's economy is slowly reopening, but the tolls on jobs during the shutdown has been a tremendous one, with more than 14 percent of people out of work in the state.

"The state is dealing with an economic crisis now that is really sort of hard to even quantify," Elmendorf said. "We don't know what's next. We don't know what the economy is going to do next."

New York State Association of Counties Executive Director Stephen Acquario says the uncertainty has been even more so for struggling local governments.

"These local governments were unsure if they were going to get reimbursed therefore they did not put out work that could have been done and should have been done because they did not have the resources," Acquario said.

Improving infrastructure, especially in upstate communities, remains no small task.

"Just drive around the state of New York, where we have an older infrastructure than the rest of the United States, so this funding is real important," Acquario said.

That money is going out the door just as road and paving season is reaching its height in New York.