$400M TTF Funding Bill Includes Funding for Engineering Study
TRENTON – Senator Nicholas P. Scutari today announced the state will provide funding to advance the Tremley Point Connector Road project, which is vital to improving safety and fueling economic development in the region. Funding for the project is included in the $400 million transportation funding bill passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor today.
Senator Scutari has been working with the Department of Transportation to advance the project. The transportation funding legislation (S-3076) signed into law today includes funding to complete the preliminary engineering for the Tremley Point Connector Road. The project will create a key access road to remove heavy truck traffic from the local roadway and provide a connection between the Turnpike and Tremley Point area of Linden.
“We knew that getting transportation dollars out the door immediately was crucial to getting vitally-needed infrastructure projects moving across the state. This law provides critical funding to advance the Tremley Point Connector Project, which will improve safety, create jobs and fuel economic development in the region,” said Senator Scutari (D-Union, Somerset, Middlesex). “This is significant progress on a project that we have been working on for years and that will benefit the residents of Linden and Union County. I am pleased that we were able to move quickly on this legislation that will help advance this project and to continue to work in preparation for the construction phase.”
The Exit 12 access road from the Turnpike now directs traffic through the South Wood Avenue section of the city. The proposed connector will intersect with Industrial Highway in Carteret, traverse the Rahway River and connect at Tremley Point Road in Linden. The Tremley Point Connector Road will provide a direct connection to the Tremley Point section of Linden, an industrialized area that relies on commercial traffic and offers the potential for economic expansion.
The transportation funding bill received final legislative approval last Thursday, and includes $140 million for NJ Transit for technology improvements and system safety and $260 million for work on roads and bridges throughout the state.
The funding will be distributed within 100 days for projects identified by the Department of Transportation through the Transportation Trust Fund selection process. The added funding for the 2017 Fiscal Year will boost total spending to $2 billion, the same level that will be sustained over the next eight years under the plan that renewed the TTF.