“It seemed as though you couldn’t go anywhere during October and early November 1971 without hearing about a transportation bond issue for New York state.
In our region of the state, there were concerns about the bond issue, because at stake was the possible delay of construction of the proposed Interstate 88, known then as the Susquehanna Expressway.
Gov. Nelson Rockefeller was going around the state at the time, rallying people and lawmakers to support and pass a $2.5 million Transportation Bond Issue on Election Day, Nov. 2.
The Oneonta Star reported on Oct. 18 how the governor had invited publishers and executives of newspapers to a luncheon in Pocantino Hills, Westchester County.
“Gov. Rockefeller gloomily predicted Friday that defeat of the proposed … bond issue this fall would mean ‘a very rough’ period for New York State, involving an ‘immediate cessation of all highway construction’ and a ‘freeze’ on state employment.”
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Star readers learned on Dec. 15 that State Sen. Dalwin Niles had introduced a bill which “directs the State Transportation Department to conduct planning and engineering studies for the link, placing it in a corridor including Central Bridge in Schoharie County and Duanesburg in Schenectady County.”
Interstate 88 would face some delays, but it was far from dead, following the bond issue defeat.”
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Simonson, The Daily Star 20 October 2021.