NJDOT awards $78.75 million to New Jersey municipalities

Local aid will fund street improvement projects and relieve property taxes

(Trenton) - Commissioner Kris Kolluri today announced that the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) will award $78.75 million in Municipal Aid to fund street improvement, rehabilitation and safety projects in 438 New Jersey towns.

“The municipal aid program enables the State of New Jersey to provide municipalities direct property tax relief, create jobs and improve the condition of the local roadway networks,” said Commissioner Kolluri.

Municipal Aid grants provide funding to municipalities that would otherwise devote local tax revenue to road improvement projects. Municipal governments maintain over 25,000 miles, or approximately 70 percent, of New Jersey's 36,000 miles of roadway. Local property taxes seldom provide sufficient funds for roadway repair and maintenance.

NJDOT encourages municipalities to apply for Municipal Aid. The grant program covers a variety of projects including road resurfacing, rehabilitation, reconstruction and signalization. In order to advance the Governor’s Pedestrian Safety initiative, NJDOT encourages municipalities to apply for Municipal Aid to fund projects that support walking and biking in their communities.

The Municipal Aid program is directly funded by the Transportation Trust Fund. NJDOT allots each county a specific funding amount based on its population and road mileage and distributes funds to towns based on field investigations and engineering evaluations of proposed projects. NJDOT provides 75 percent of the grant amount to the municipalities when award a contract and the remaining 25 percent upon completion of the project.

The municipal aid program also provides dedicated funds to municipalities that qualify for Urban Aid as well as Jersey City and Newark’s Annual Transportation Plan.

NJDOT's Municipal Aid program is popular and competitive. This year, NJDOT will fund 440 of the 835 grant requests received. Funding for this popular program is limited to $78.75 million; NJDOT received over $237 million in requests.

Link to the Municipal Aid Award List