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I Love NY signs: State, federal government reach deal ahead of deadline

New York and federal government officials said they reached a last-minute deal Friday that will restore $14 million in highway funds that was withheld from the state because of hundreds of illegal I Love NY signs erected five years ago.

ALBANY -- New York and federal government officials said they reached a last-minute deal Friday that will restore $14 million in highway funds that was withheld from the state because of hundreds of illegal I Love NY signs erected five years ago.

The sides said New York will come up with an "innovative experimental project" for the signs that will meet federal highway standards.

As a result, the Federal Highway Administration said it would give the state back the $14 million in funds that was withheld in February because of the years-long dispute over the more than 500 signs that are ubiquitous on New York highways.

The deadline to reach an agreement was Sunday, which is the end of the federal fiscal year.

“The Federal Highway Administration and New York State Department of Transportation have reached agreement on a path forward to resolve this matter," the federal agency said in a statement.

"Based on NYSDOT’s written commitment to achieve compliance, FHWA is terminating the initial penalty and restoring the FY 2018 funds.”

What's the deal?

While the sides hailed the agreement, the details were murky Friday.

It was unclear when the current signs might be taken down and if so how many will be removed.

Neither the federal government nor the state provided the written copy of what they said they agreed to.

"We are pleased that our federal partners understand our efforts to make this state more attractive and accessible to the traveling public and that they will work with the state to review our efforts and evaluate the impact on the traveling public," a statement from the state Department of Transportation and the state Thruway Authority said.

“Accordingly, we have reached an agreement to launch an innovative experimental project to allow tourism signage to highlight cultural, historic, and other significant state attractions off the highway system."

What's next?

The state said it will submit a final plan to the federal government for approval "in the coming months."

"This is a win-win for all parties and we thank our federal counterparts for their cooperation," the state agencies said.

New York faced the prospect of losing the $14 million permanently if a deal wasn't struck before the end of the federal fiscal year. New federal penalties were also a possibility.

The Federal Highway Administration has long argued that the highway signs violate federal laws about signage, in part because they don't direct people to stops off the highways and are a distraction to drivers.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has suggested for the past year that the signs promoting the state's I Love NY campaign and online tourism sites was coming to any end anyway and that the signs might come down.

But behind the scenes, the state and federal government had been a heated battle over taking down the signs and what would replace them.

The work ahead

In June, the state proposed taking down roughly 400 signs while keeping the so-called motherboard signs that lead off the grouping of additional signs, according to documents obtained by the USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau.

So it's unclear how much of that proposed compromise, if any, was included in Friday's accord.

The agreement also comes as Cuomo seeks a third term in November and has faced criticism over the signs from his political opponents, who have claimed they flout federal law and are a misguided use of state resources.

The state said the "road signage tourism campaign" for the past five years "has been highly successful."

The new advertising campaign, the state said, "will be profiled in various media outlets, as well as, easy to download apps that will coordinate with road signage."

As for the motherboards, there will be regional introductory signs "and follow up specific attraction signs will be part of the effort," the state agencies' statement said.

"We will coordinate with our federal counterparts once we have more details on this new effort, and we will announce the campaign as soon as it is completed," the state agencies said

"This agreement resolves the preexisting matter between the state and the federal government, and the state will continue to receive all federal highway aid.”

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