The Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Priority Act (A8011B/S5560B), which directs New York state agencies to make their infrastructure spending decisions in accordance with smart growth principles, was signed into law by Gov. Paterson on Monday.
The law was a priority for Vision Long Island, Empire State Future, TSTC, and other transportation and planning groups, and its passage was hailed by advocates. “The Public Infrastructure Priority Act’s signing into law is a huge step to stopping costly sprawl at its source,” Empire State Future executive director Peter Fleisher said in a statement. Eric Alexander of Vision LI said that “this legislation will help prioritize infrastructure investments for our downtowns while limiting NYS subsidized sprawl on open space.”
As Streetsblog’s Noah Kazis noted earlier this summer, the new law is a major policy statement and can be a powerful tool for getting agencies on the same page, as shown by NJ’s experience under similar laws:
In areas designated for growth, said [NJ Future's Jay] Corbalis, the state’s Board of Public Utilities will help finance new infrastructure costs for developers; outside, they’re on their own. When plans for a new light rail line from Philadelphia were proposed, he continued, three different routes were considered. One passed through existing town centers while the others ran through greenfields. A report from the state’s planning commission concluded that only the first complied with the state’s smart growth plan, and it [was selected]. “There could be hundreds of examples like that,” said Corbalis.
But Kazis concludes that the impact will depend on how the bill is implemented by state agencies — so watch for the tone set by New York’s next governor and agency heads.
This sounds like an exciting step towards our future here in NYS, however my concern is how Albany will implement and use the law. Will we actually see money put in the right places on the right projects, or will it just me another way for lawmakers to earmark money into their own special interests?
[...] New York State legislation initiatives, such as Complete Streets and the recently-passed infrastructure bill; as well as recent impacts of the financial crisis on the Capital District transportation [...]
[...] lively dialogue about state and federal funding issues, the next steps in the implementation of the Smart Growth Public Infrastructure law, and the need for transportation alternatives between Albany and Saratoga, which is growing fast. [...]
[...] New York State legislation initiatives, such asComplete Streets and the recently-passed infrastructure bill; as well as recent impacts of the financial crisis on the Capital District transportation [...]
[...] Long Island, including support for transit-oriented development, implementing the recently enacted Smart Growth Infrastructure Priority Act, and how to finance smart growth and transit oriented development [...]
[...] State Senator Carl Marcellino and Assm. Sam Hoyt, for their leadership on last year’s state Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Act; [...]