The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) recently awarded $30.1 million in fiscal year 2023 Local Freight Impact Fund grants to 13 municipalities and three counties to promote the safe movement of large truck traffic.
The Local Freight Impact Fund is a competitive program that funds 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. Projects must fall into five categories to be eligible for funding: bridge preservation, new construction, pavement preservation, pedestrian safety, and truck safety and mobility.
“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.”
NJDOT received 53 grant applications for this round of funding. Of the 16 grants awarded, nine are pavement preservation projects, four are pedestrian safety projects, two are truck safety and mobility projects, and one is new construction.