New York State Sen. Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Matt Slater announced today a new $14.8 million state-funded project to resurface Route 22 in the towns of Southeast, Pawling and Patterson and the Village of Brewster has started. Joining the two legislators for the announcement was Southeast Town Supervisor Nick Durante.

“This is an important investment for Putnam County that I’m proud to support,” Slater said. “Hudson Valley taxpayers deserve safe roads, and I will continue to work with Senator Harckham and every partner in government to accomplish this objective.

“The Route 22 project is an important step toward improving the roadways in our area, which has the most lane miles and number of bridges of any New York State Department of Transportation region,” Hackham said. “Better roads are essential for our safety and for our economy. I will continue to fight for sustained long-term investments in our infrastructure to make repairs and upgrades, as well as new designs that will help meet the increased use by residents and business owners.”

The new project is set to resurface approximately 12 miles of Route 22 from the Interstate 84/684 interchange to Route 55 in Dutchess and Putnam counties. The project is expected to be completed in August of this year. Route 22 carries approximately 20,000 drivers daily.

Route 22 is identified as a part of the New York State Freight Core Highway Network from Route 55 in Dutchess County to I-84 in Putnam County along the east side of the Hudson Valley Region. This corridor provides freight connection between the urban area of Poughkeepsie and Connecticut via I-84 Eastbound and Westchester County via I-684.

Trucks account for 8% of the average annual daily traffic within the corridor. The work will take place in the towns of Southeast, Pawling and Patterson and the Village of Brewster.

“The repaving of Route 22 is great news for the Town of Southeast. The road bisects our town and is used by thousands of drivers every day, whether they are residents of Southeast, commuters or tourists driving on their way. A newly paved road will protect people’s cars from the wear and tear of potholes. Thank you to Senator Harckham and Assemblymember Slater for securing the funding in the budget to make this much-needed improvement happen,” said Southeast Town Supervisor Nick Durante.

Last year, Harckham and Slater sent a joint letter to the New York State Department of Transportation voicing concern about area roadways, and both legislative offices have fielded an inordinate number of complaints regarding problems with road surfaces.