State administration provides $60 million in grants for local roads

SALISBURY, Md. – Governor Hogan’s administration has announced that state municipalities will be receiving thousands of dollars this year to help fix something they all share in common, their roads.

The roads and highways are the arteries that help move residents and visitors to and from all corners of the state. But, some officials say the money allocated isn’t enough to support their specific needs.

“It is a big challenge because paving the roads is extremely expensive,” said the Town of Secretary Commissioner, Susan Dukes.

“It is very, very costly when you have to pave an entire road and then when you have to pave an entire town,” said Dukes.

According to the town commissioner, a significant amount of money from the Highway User Revenue and Grants were reduced a few years. She said this had a major impact on the town.

“During Governor O’Malley’s administation, before his administration, we used to get between 45,000 dollars and 50,000 dollars a year in highway user funds,” Dukes said.

“He slashed that to the point that we only got 3,500 dollars a year,” she said.

While the Town of Secretary will be getting around 17,000 dollars to help fix their roads, the City of Salisbury will be getting almost 50 times more in comparison.

The city’s mayor said that it is a big help for the coming years, especially after years of budget restrictions.

“It was essentially the state saying, we have the taxing authority, and let’s raise the taxes and then give the money back to you,” said City of Salisbury Mayor, Jake Day.

“You know, the roads that we go to school on, the roads our ambulance get to your house on, and they broke that promise,” said Day.

The mayor also said that with additional funding, the city will be able to focus more on supporting first responders in the years to come.

He also said that the new funding is a big step to help fix pot holes and other issues that make a big impact on local residents.