Rising Prices Affecting Projects

FULTON, NY – The rising costs of blacktop, fuel and equipment have put a dent in the amount of paving projects that the city of Fulton will take on this year.

Fulton Mayor Ronald Woodward said that the city has had to cut back on the number of road projects it planned for the current construction season. He noted that while the city received a modest increase in CHIPS funding from the state, it did not make up the gap.

“It was not enough to offset the cost of the blacktop increases,” Woodward said.

Department of Public Works Commissioner Dan O’Brien pointed out that he anticipated the price hikes when he put together the list of paving projects for the year.

“So far, we are holding pretty good to the current project list,” O’Brien noted. “The rest of the season will depend on where prices go from here.”

O’Brien pointed out that prices increase typically monthly.

“Everything has depended on the oil prices,” he said. “From where we started the season, the prices of (blacktop) are already up $11 per ton from June to July.”

O’Brien said that the city is scheduled to tackle approximately 10 different paving projects this year.

“We are about a fourth of the way through that list now,” he said. “Some of the projects will take a little longer because of the amount of work necessary.”

City workers are also scheduled to take on a water line project on Utica Street, he noted.

“I am keeping a close eye on our expenditures,” O’Brien said. “It is a little too early to tell if we are going to end up having to cut some corners from the list.”

Not just blacktop materials, O’Brien said that the cost of fuel and the costs to rent equipment for the projects have also gone up this year.

“All of that together is putting a bite into our paving projects this year,” O’Brien said. “But we are going to try to stretch it out the best we can.”

Woodward noted that the escalating costs of water pipes, for example, are also having an effect on other projects in the city. Woodward noted that the price to install new 8-inch water pipes was once $11 per foot. Earlier this summer, that price was set at $22 per foot.

“We are absolutely doing less but we are doing the best we can with the money we have,” Woodward said.

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