Street Resurfacing Info Bill Passes City Council, Mayor To Sign

On Wednesday, Bensonhurst residents came one step closer to having easier online access to street resurfacing information.

As expected, the City Council passed a measure that would require the DOT to post up to date street resurfacing and capital improvement data on their website.

According to NY1, Mayor Bloomberg intends to sign the bill into law.

The information posted would include what year each city block was last resurfaced or received a major capital improvement, as well as grade the street using a three tiered rating system.

The new legislation would also require, beginning in January 2012, that the information be searchable by city block – meaning residents would be able to simply type in their address rather than find their location on a map.

The bill’s sponsor, Councilman James Oddo (R- Staten Island, Brooklyn) pointed out that the bill would make the ratings system a more interactive process, encouraging New Yorkers who disagree with the DOT’s assessment of their block to make their voices heard.

“If you go on and you see that the DOT rating for your street is good and you think it’s not good, well, we want to hear from you. I think you should take that information, you call 311, you should call the community board,” said City Councilman Oddo.

Although many of the bill’s requirements have already been put into practice by DOT, the legislation codifies them, and bounds the department by law to further increase taxpayer accessibility.