NWS PAVING

A DOT crew repaves Irving Place in Stapleton in December 2015.

(Staten Island Advance/Vincent Barone)

CITY HALL -- Staten Island drivers have struck oil for asphalt.

The Department of Transportation can repave more roads on Staten Island than were originally budgeted this year thanks to cheaper oil prices and nicer weather.

City street crews planned to repave 1,200 lane miles citywide before the fiscal year ends June 30, but they'll be able to do an extra 65.

That includes five more Staten Island projects totaling 11.4 miles along Richmond Road and Forest Hill Road.

Some 166 lane miles will have been repaved on Staten Island this fiscal year when the work ends this month.

"New Yorkers who pump their own gas certainly know that lower oil prices are allowing us to keep more money in our wallets these days," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. "For the city, lower prices at the pump also mean that the oil we buy to produce asphalt has been cheaper, allowing us to make even more of it."

Oil is a primary ingredient in asphalt. The city purchases and produces asphalt at two plants for resurfacing and filling potholes.

Crews are also able to increase output because of this season's drier weather.

About $203 million was allocated for repaving roads across the five boroughs this year, though that funding jumps to some $282 million with contract milling and paving included.

The annual allocation doesn't change in the current budget plan for the next two fiscal years. The de Blasio administration and City Council will come to an agreement this month before adopting the next budget that starts in July.

Staten Island elected officials have long pushed for the city to increase funding for road repairs. Borough President James Oddo even made a slogan for the cause: Pave, baby, pave.

"Ask Staten Islanders what's the most annoying part of driving Staten Island streets and the answer with be potholes," Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-East Shore/Brooklyn) said in a statement. "Increased repaving is a tremendous and welcome development."

About five miles of Richmond Road between Van Duzer Street and West Fingerboard Road will be repaved by the end of the month. So will six miles of Forest Hill Road between Gunda Street and Platinum Avenue.

"As two of Staten Island's major thoroughfares, the scheduled repaving of Richmond Road and Forest Hill Road is welcome news for the thousands of motorists who travel these roads on a daily basis," Assemblyman Michael Cusick said in a statement.

Work on the two roads will be done mostly at night to alleviate any impact on traffic. Milling of one portion of Forest Hill Road began last month.