St. Lawrence County will receive more than $4.8 million for roadwork this year, according Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa.

St. Lawrence County Highway Superintendent Donald Chambers said highway funding included in the 2016-17 state budget was a boon for his department.

Chambers said the county highway department will receive approximately $400,000 more in aid from the state than it had in the 2015-16 state budget. He said the current cost for materials to pave one mile of road is in the $130,000 range.

In addition, the two cities, towns and villages in the 116th Assembly District will receive a total of $5.99 million. More than $2.9 million of that funding will go to St. Lawrence County municipalities within the district. Figures for St. Lawrence County municipalities outside of the 116th were not immediately available.

"I'm very thankful for the hard work our legislators did supporting this," Chambers told St. Lawrence County lawmakers during a recent county legislature committee meeting.

The funding, which is provided through the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPs) and PAVE NY, was included in the 2016-17 state budget.

“I fought for more state funding to make much-needed repairs and upgrades to aging roads and bridges in our communities,” Assemblywoman Russell said. “North Country residents need safe roads to get to and from work and school. Investing in infrastructure also creates jobs and will help our economy grow and continue moving forward.”

These infrastructure investments will be divided equally between the state and localities and allocated in the same fashion as CHIPs funding.

"This funding is critical for counties, cities, towns and villages in the North Country to maintain highways and bridges that are so critical to transportation realities in upstate New York. I helped fight to ensure there was parity for transportation funding for all regions of our state," Russell said.

Aging infrastructure is a problem throughout the state. A 2012 report issued by the state Comptroller’s office found that 45.9 percent of local roads and highways were rated “poor” or "fair” and 35 percent of local bridges are deficient.

Russell said one of the major concerns raised by local officials is the need for state funding to help them maintain the roads and bridges in their communities.