Proposed FY '05 Capital
Program totals $2.58 billion
I unveiled a $2.58 billion capital program
for NJDOT and NJ TRANSIT for FY 2005 before
the Assembly Budget Committee in early
April. It is a fiscally responsible and
robust investment in New Jersey’s
transportation network.
The FY 2005 Capital Program fulfills
Governor McGreevey’s commitment to
improving safety, easing congestion by
using Smart Growth and Fix-It-First strategies
and providing needed property tax relief
to New Jersey’s counties and municipalities
and a significant stimulus to the state’s
economy. Roughly $1.4 billion of the capital
program is for use by the NJDOT and $1.2
billion by NJ TRANSIT.
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NJDOT’s
Local Aid program will provide significant
property tax relief to New Jersey
counties and municipalities by making
direct investments in local communities.
NJDOT’s $260 million investment
in Local Aid will help rebuild and
revitalize communities, improve
safety, and enhance the quality
of life in New Jersey’s downtowns.
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“This program will support jobs
and encourage Smart Growth development
through targeted capital investments,”
said Governor James E. McGreevey. Virtually
half the funding will be provided for
public transportation while new highway
expansion is limited to just four percent
of spending.
This substantial investment in our transportation
network will facilitate the movement of
over $7 billion worth of goods and services
and directly support over 100,000 jobs.
The FY 2005 Capital Program allows NJDOT
to repair and rehabilitate over 15,000
lane miles of state highways, 32,000 miles
of county and municipal roadways and 5,000
state and local bridges. This program
will also put record amounts of work on
the street. In FY 2005 alone NJDOT will
award more than $740 million worth of
engineering and construction contracts.
Improving safety is the NJDOT’s
top priority and roughly $100 million
will be spent on engineering, education
and enforcement initiatives designed to
increase safety on our highways and bridges.
The FY 2005 Capital Program invests $8.3
million for the Emergency Service Patrol
Program; $4 million for the Safe Corridors
Program; $1 million for improvements at
intersections with especially high accident
rates and $4 million for the Safe Streets
to School Program.
As part of its Fix-It-First initiative,
NJDOT will spend $370 million to repair
and replace 71 bridges, including $12
million for construction of a new fixed-span
Manasquan Bridge in Monmouth County and
$34 million for a new Routes 1&9 Elizabeth
River Bridge in Union County.
- $150 million will be invested in roadway
preservation, targeting the worst roads
first, including $7 million to rehabilitate
I-295 from I-195 to Route 1 in Mercer
County.
- $235 million is allocated for FY 2005
to ease congestion throughout the state.
These measures will make travel on New
Jersey’s highways more efficient
and will help reduce emissions, protecting
the air we breathe. Included is $5.9
million for intersection safety improvements
at Route 1&9 North Avenue in Elizabeth
and $24.2 million to eliminate the Route
30 Berlin Circle.
At NJ TRANSIT, investments will be targeted
to preserving and upgrading a public transportation
system that covers more than 5,000 square
miles and facilitates more than 222 million
annual passenger trips. It provides for
a $257 million investment in rail state-of-good
repair needs such as basic track, signal,
bridge and yard improvements; $16 million
in bus and light rail facility needs and
the replacement of more than 270 outdated
buses.
In addition, $59 million will provide
systemwide investments, including $9 million
for technology upgrades to improve efficiency
and reduce annual operating costs and
$15 million to improve the on board announcement
system, a frequent customer complaint.
Newark’s Broad Street, Ridgewood,
Madison, Morristown and Trenton are among
those stations that will receive $76 million
in improvements.
Finally, $7.5 million will be applied
towards fulfilling Governor McGreevey’s
commitment to creating 20,000 new Park
& Ride spaces statewide.
The entire Proposed
Fiscal Year 2005 Capital Program is
available on NJDOT’s Web site and
is broken down by projects, counties and
routes.
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