Article originally published here.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. John Katko on Tuesday gained appointments to three House transportation subcommittees, including one that could help fund the reconstruction of Interstate 81 in Syracuse.
Katko, R-Camillus, a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, was appointed to its Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
The committee will play a key role in developing the next highway bill, which could authorize tens of millions in federal aid to rebuild the elevated portion of Interstate 81 in downtown Syracuse.
Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., also appointed Katko to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, and the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
“Over the course of the next two years, there are a number of issues that will come before the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that will have a major and lasting impact on Central New York,” Katko said in a statement after receiving the appointments.
Katko added, “I’m honored to provide a strong voice for Central New York on my subcommittees and to work towards making our transportation systems stronger.”
The Subcommittee on Highways and Transit oversees development of national surface transportation policy, and will administer the reauthorization of federal surface transportation programs over the next two years.
Katko and other members of Congress from New York state want to make sure the reauthorization makes Interstate 81 a priority project eligible for millions of dollars in federal aid. U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, a Republican from Oneida County, also serves on the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, where he will likely join Katko in pushing to make I-81 a federal priority.