WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri, in a letter to New York State’s Acting Department of Transportation Commissioner Stanley Gee Tuesday, called on the state highway department to commit to using federal funding secured for Route 12’s county Route 32 bypass.

Schumer and Arcuri secured the funding through this year’s Consolidate Appropriations Act, signed into law in December, with the intent of it being used for improvements to the Route 12 corridor, specifically for the Route 12 Task Force’s Phase II study recommendation to complete county Route 32 as a bypass for through traffic.

Schumer and Arcuri emphasized that this funding was intended for the bypass, and should be used as such. They asked the DOT to commit to using the funding as Congress intended, and not using it to complete another project.

“There is no law that says the state has to use the money this way. This is a letter of encouragement, asking them to,” said Schumer’s press secretary Max Young this morning.