(Trenton) – The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) today announced $30.1 million in FY2023 Local Freight Impact Fund grants that help counties and municipalities promote the safe movement of large truck traffic.
“New Jersey’s seaports, airports, and rail yards are critical pieces of our regional and national economies,” Governor Phil Murphy said. “These grants represent my Administration’s ongoing investment in our infrastructure to ensure safer, more efficient, and equitable movement of goods throughout our state.”
“The New Jersey Department of Transportation is committed to providing counties and municipalities with funding to make necessary improvements to local roads and bridges that carry commercial truck traffic,” NJDOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said. “The Local Freight Impact Fund is an important investment to ensure New Jersey’s transportation system will be able to support a strong state and regional economy for years to come.”
The Local Freight Impact Fund is a competitive program that was created as part of the Transportation Trust Fund reauthorization in October 2016. NJDOT received 53 grant applications for the FY2023 Local Freight Impact Fund Program, of which 16 grants are being awarded. Those grants are being distributed to 13 municipalities and three counties. Of the 16 projects, nine are pavement preservation projects, four are pedestrian safety projects, two are truck safety and mobility projects, and one is new construction. Click here for a full list of project awards.
The program helps New Jersey’s counties and municipalities fund projects that emphasize and enhance the safe movement of large truck traffic, renew aging structures that carry large truck traffic, promote economic development, and support new transportation opportunities without the need for additional property taxes. Under the program, projects that fall into five categories are eligible for funding: bridge preservation, new construction, pavement preservation, truck safety and mobility, and pedestrian safety, which is a new category this year.
The grants are administered by the NJDOT Division of Local Aid and Economic Development. NJDOT staff evaluate projects using a variety of criteria including existing conditions, overall traffic volume, percentage of large truck traffic, crash frequency, and connectivity to freight nodes, among others.
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