Put Fed Dollars To Work

Work will soon get under way in Melville on a $7.7-million project to reconstruct Walt Whitman Road. The majority of the funding for the project comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, perhaps better known as federal stimulus funds.

The project was a perfect fit for the federal spending plan, which sought so-called “shovel ready” projects that could be implemented quickly. This is also a worthwhile project, as it addresses problems on a heavily traveled roadway at the core of the Route 110-Melville Corridor. It is expected to get even greater use when Canon’s North American headquarters is built at the LIE at Old Walt Whitman Road.

Thanks to the stimulus spending, Huntington taxpayers will be picking up less than one-third of the tab for this essential project. Bravo! How do we get more?

Whether it is stimulus funding or grants for narrowly defined purposes, federal, state and county grants help the town to get a lot more bang for their buck. As federal stimulus funding winds down, and the economy continues to falter, identifying projects and pursuing those grants should be a priority in Town Hall.