NEW YORK CITY-Construction spending citywide, which peaked at$31.1 billion in 2007 and fell as the downturn took hold, will riseagain next year and bump back up to $28.6 billion in 2012. That’sif the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s capital projectsprogram for fiscal ’12 is fully funded—a big "if" at the moment,the New York Building Congress’ Richard T. Anderson said Tuesday.The agency’s five-year capital program is only funded through2011.

Assuming that the funding comes through, the MTA’s projected$4.1-billion increase in construction spending for ’12 represents14% of all spending forecast for that year, the Building Congresssays in its “NYC Construction Outlook 2010-2012” report. For thatreason, said Anderson, president of the Building Congress, prioritynumber one for all stakeholders is securing additional funding forthe transit agency’s capital plan.

Without that increase, Anderson told a construction industryaudience at the New York Hilton, “it’s going to be a tough market.”Some 18,000 local construction jobs would disappear from theforecast for ’12.