May 7, 2012

       CORNING (WENY) --  Corning residents will pay slightly more in taxes next year to bring city roads up to par.  The city council unanimously approved the $30 million measure at Monday night's meeting. Property taxes will go up by 2 percent annually, and the entire project will improve roads over the next 14 years.

       Corning currently has a score around 52 under the Pavement Quality Index, a national standard used to rate roads.  A score of 70 is considered acceptable, and city leaders hope to have a score near that after the project is completed.

       Planners still have to map out which roads will get attention first, but city officials say this investment is a step in the right direction.  "It gives us a plan, it gives us an opportunity to put so much money every year towards fixing the roads up, where before it was hit or miss," says Mayor Richard Negri.  "Now we've established a goal."