The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) recently awarded $30.1 million in grants as part of the new Local Freight Impact Fund program.
Twenty-one projects in 16 municipalities received grants.
The program assists municipalities with the safe movement of large truck traffic. It also supports new transportation opportunities, renews aging structures that carry large truck traffic and promotes economic development.
The program was created in 2016 as part of Transportation Trust Fund reauthorization, and the NJDOT Division of Local Aid and Economic Development administers the grants.
“New Jersey roads and bridges carry some of the heaviest amount of commercial truck traffic in the country every day,” Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, NJDOT commissioner, said. “The Local Freight Impact Fund is an example of your gas tax dollars at work. The new program provides State funds to municipalities to make critical improvements to truck routes to keep our infrastructure in a state of good repair and keep our regional economy moving in the right direction.”
Projects are divided into four categories: bridge preservation, new construction, pavement preservation, and truck safety and mobility.
They are evaluated on multiple criteria including crash frequency, connectivity to freight nodes, existing conditions, percentage of large truck traffic, and overall traffic volume.