Infrastructure bill's local impact likely to kick off in the spring

If you live on a limited income, you might welcome a weatherization crew to your home around then, too.

Before long, you might see runway work at Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

And more of Buffalo's lead water pipes will removed, probably starting next year.

Those are just four of the local ramifications of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that Congress finalized last week. Sources familiar with the legislation said it will likely mean a busy construction season in the Buffalo Niagara region and nationwide in the spring and for at least four springs after that.

"It's the largest infusion for infrastructure for Western New York certainly in 70 years and maybe even longer," said Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat who compared the effort to the construction of the interstate highway system starting in the 1950s.

The bill "covers the gamut," Schumer said. "There's going to be help for roads. There's going to be help for bridges. There's going to be help for public transit. There's going to be help for the airports. There's going to be help for broadband. There's going to be help for water (systems). There's going to be help for the Great Lakes, Amtrak, (electric vehicle) charging infrastructure, you name it. It's huge."

It's also going to be long-lasting. Money from the bill will be doled out over five years and spent over eight. The easy projects such as road and bridge repairs and weatherization – those that are part of existing formula-based grant programs – will start first. The new stuff – such as the Amtrak expansion and electric vehicle charging stations and maybe even the replacement of the Kensington Expressway – will take years.

How much of that $1.2 trillion will be spent in Western New York? It's too soon to say for sure. But if the money the region receives is proportional to its population, the bill means about $4.2 billion for Erie and Niagara counties alone.

Here's how, and when, some of that money will be spent.

Roads and bridges: Unlike some earlier bills, this one doesn't put a priority on "shovel-ready" projects. But Rep. Brian Higgins, a Buffalo Democrat, lists plenty of local projects that would qualify as such, including:

• A new waterfront parkway at Tifft Street

• A new waterfront parkway and bridge replacement at Louisiana Street

• The return of cars to all of Buffalo's Main Street

• The Riverline

• The full reconstruction of Niagara Street

• Improved pedestrian and bike access on Bailey Avenue

"These are all projects that could get started in the spring and completed within 24 months," as could the renovation of the DL&W Terminal, said Higgins, who's been pushing for an infrastructure investment like this for a decade.

The state Department of Transportation will decide when and whether to fund those projects, along with routine repairs, once it gets the first chunk of the $13.4 billion it expects for roads and bridges.

"NYSDOT is currently assessing the impacts of this new legislation and expects to incorporate its funding into the department’s new capital program, which may be adopted as soon as April 2022," said Glenn Blain, an agency spokesman. "In the meantime, potential transportation projects will continue to be selected through a collaborative approach with regional planning entities such as the Greater Buffalo-Niagara Regional Transportation Council."

Weatherization: Thousands of Western New York families will eventually see lower heating bills thanks to a nearly twelvefold increase in funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program. Neighborhood Housing Services of South Buffalo adds insulation or other improvements to about 180 homes a year now, but if it gets a proportional amount of funding under the infrastructure bill, that number would grow to 2,100. Three other local nonprofits would also see huge boosts in the number of homes they could weatherize each year.

The boost in weatherization funding is likely to come in April, said Shyrl Duderwick, executive director of the South Buffalo housing agency.

Airport funding: Buffalo Niagara International Airport will get $37.5 million under the bill, while Niagara Falls International will receive $7.5 million, with the first allotment likely to arrive in the spring. Expect that money to be spent in important but unspectacular ways. Kimberley A. Minkel, executive director of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, said the Buffalo airport money could go in part to the $78 million rebuilding of the main runway, along with other ramps and taxiways.

Transit: Mass transit funding will increase 82% under the bill. Minkel said she hopes a chunk of the NFTA's money will eventually go to purchase electric buses, but more immediately, the bill includes money to repair 24,000 existing buses nationwide.

Lead pipe replacement: The bill devotes $15 billion to replacing lead water pipes, but that's only a third of what President Biden suggested. Still, some of that money will almost certainly come to Buffalo starting next year to replace some of its 150 miles of potentially hazardous pipes.

"We are looking forward to making the most out of this historic investment," said Oluwole McFoy, chair of Buffalo Water.

Broadband expansion: Some $65 billion in the bill promises to extend high-speed broadband internet service to every corner of the nation, which is one reason why Rep. Tom Reed of Corning, who represents the Southern Tier, was one of 13 Republicans to support the bill. In rural districts, "it's been very tough to get broadband into those areas that allow them to be competitive on the world stage," he said.

Reed said broadband funding should arrive in his district "relatively quickly." Rep. Chris Jacobs, an Orchard Park Republican who also serves rural areas, voted against the measure, saying it's linked to the Democrats' effort to expand social programs.

"I cannot support any bill that furthers the Democrats’ reckless agenda to burden small businesses and families with higher taxes and stick our grandchildren with the tab," Jacobs said.

Environmental improvements: Money for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative – which led to the Buffalo River renaissance – triples under the bill. The Army Corps of Engineers will get another $1.9 billion, and some of it could be spent in Western New York. So could $70 billion in drinking and wastewater infrastructure funding and $10 billion to fight emerging contaminants such as human-made "forever chemicals."

“Congress has delivered one of the boldest infrastructure packages in our nation’s history," said Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who pushed for the environmental funding and several other elements of the bill.

Long-term investments: The bill also includes efforts aimed at rebuilding the nation's infrastructure, not just for its current needs, but for future ones – such as a $65 billion boost for the nation's power grid, $59 billion to modernize Amtrak's rail network and $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations. Long-term provisions in the bill also include a $1 billion program to remove highways that destroyed neighborhoods in the past – a program that could fund the removal of the Kensington.

Those new efforts are years away, but Thomas W. Smith III, executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said they're an important part of the bill's plan to build infrastructure for the next century.

"It's a significant undertaking for the country, one that's desperately needed," Smith said.