Regarding "Repair work wiped out" [News, Oct. 15], it would be easy to blame the state Department of Transportation for the decision not to harden portions of Ocean Parkway from future storms, but it wouldn't jibe with the facts.

The federal government provided only enough funds to restore what was lost after superstorm Sandy, not to improve or strengthen our infrastructure. Our local heavy construction firms actually were encouraged by the state to include in their emergency-repair bids the specifications to create hardening measures, such as pile-driven steel sheathing and subsurface concrete barriers to deter erosion. Those options were not executed because, despite the local desire to build smarter after natural disasters, the federal reimbursement and bureaucratic malaise still do not permit the needed repairs to take place.

Marc Herbst, Hauppauge

Editor's note: The writer is the executive director of the Long Island Contractors' Association.