County of Monmouth
For Immediate Release:
September 11, 2009
 

Bridges, roads improvements to receive funding
Near-term projects will create jobs, improve transportation network

 FREEHOLD, NJ – A number of Monmouth County bridges and other transportation projects have been approved to receive funding for final design, right-of-way acquisition or construction in fiscal years 2010 to 2013 by the New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority.
 
A total of 20 transportation projects have made the NJTPA’s list of projects and are included in its annual Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the years 2010-2013. The TIP is part of the NJTPA’s Plan 2035, the long-range transportation plan for 13 counties in northern and central New Jersey, including Monmouth.
 
Both plans were adopted at the NJTPA’s Aug. 24 Board of Trustees meeting, and both are required in order to receive federal transportation funding.
 
TIP includes more than $2.7 billion in transportation funding for the upcoming fiscal year 2010, and more than $10 billion over the four years of the program. In addition to bridge replacement projects, there are many areas designated for intersection improvements and road resurfacing.           
 
“The projects in the TIP are needed to create jobs, fix our infrastructure and improve our transportation network,” said Freeholder Deputy Director John D’Amico, the county’s representative on the NJTPA. “Monmouth County received $5.3 million for its transportation projects last year, and we hope that number will continue to grow as it has these last few years.”
 
Plan 2035, which looks at projects over the next 25 years, forecasts that the northern and central New Jersey region’s population will grow to about 7.8 million by 2035, an increase of about 16 percent, and employment will rise about 3.7 million, or about 17 percent.
 
“Plan 2035 will reduce the backlog of repair and maintenance projects, expand mass transit, address climate change and better implement smart growth land use,” D’Amico said. “It is an ambitious plan and one that will require additional funding to fully implement it.”
 
As adopted, Plan 2035 calls for $141.1 billion in transportation investments over the next 25 years, which will require increases in funding from both state and federal sources. Current funding from these sources over the next 25 years would yield $92 billion.
 
Monmouth County projects included in the TIP plan for implementation in the period between 2010 and 2013 are:
  • Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of the Millhurst dam and bridge, Manalapan;
  • Repair of structural steel elements on Oceanic Bridge, Rumson;
  • Replace Amboy Avenue bridge over Matawan Creek, Keyport and Aberdeen;
  • Realignment and widening of Halls Mill Road, from Routes 33 to 524, Freehold Township;
  • Various road improvements in Holmdel to reduce flooding;
  • Replacement of Laurel Avenue railroad bridge, Holmdel;
  • Study of options including rehabilitation or replacement of Oceanic Bridge, Rumson;
  • Replace three existing spans at Glimmer Glass and Debbie’s Creek, Brielle and Manasquan;
  • Study of options including rehabilitation or replacement of Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge;
  • Study of options including rehabilitation or replacement of Sunset Avenue bridge over Deal Lake in Asbury Park and Ocean Township;
  • Replacement of West Front Street bridge over Swimming River in Middletown;
  • Various intersection improvements, Route 9, Craig Road and East Freehold Road, Freehold Township and Manalapan;
  • Resurfacing of Route 9 at various locations in Middlesex and Monmouth counties;
  • Improvements to intersection of Routes 34 and 537 in Colts Neck;
  • With respect to Route 35, assist in development of Eatontown downtown redevelopment;
  • Investigate potential intersection improvements along Route 35 in Eatontown;
  • Rehabilitate, widen, replace culvert, and make safety improvements at four intersections along Route 35 from Greenwood Drive to Prospect Avenue in Aberdeen and Old Bridge;
  • Multi-year funding to replace Highlands bridge over Shrewsbury River;
  • Resurface Route 36 in various municipalities along the Bayshore region, and
  • Resurface Route 71 at various locations between Sea Girt Avenue in Spring Lake Heights north through West Long Branch.  
“The money allocated in the TIP program is a statewide figure and won’t cover all of the projects listed here for Monmouth County, but through the portion allocated to us we will be able to complete a number of them and move the others along toward completion,” D’Amico said.  
 
The NJTPA is the metropolitan planning organization for 13 northern and central New Jersey counties. Under federal legislation, the NJTPA provides a forum where local officials, public transportation providers and state agency representatives can come together and cooperatively plan to meet the region’s current and future transportation needs. It also establishes the region’s ability to receive federal tax dollars for transportation projects.
 
The NJTPA board is comprised of one local elected official from each of the 13 counties in the region (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Morris, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren), plus a Governor’s representative, the commissioner of the state department of Transportation, the executive directors of NJ Transit and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and a citizen’s representative appointed by the governor.
 
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