Several Monmouth County municipalities are among the more than 400 towns that are receiving state municipal aid to fund street improvement projects, including Little Silver, Red Bank and Rumson.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) awarded $78.75 million in municipal aid to fund street improvement, rehabilitation and safety projects in 438 towns in New Jersey.
Red Bank was the recipient of $200,000, the highest amount of aid received among the three towns.
Little Silver and Rumson received $140,000 and $135,000, respectively.
“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 Kris Kolluri in a Dec. 27 press release.
According to the release, municipal aid grants provide funding to municipalities that would otherwise siphon local tax revenue to road improvement projects.
“NJDOT encourages municipalities to apply for municipal aid. The grant program covers a variety of projects including road resurfacing, rehabilitation, reconstruction and signalization,” the press release states.
In order to advance Gov. Jon Corzine’s Pedestrian Safety initiative, the NJDOT encourages municipalities to apply for municipal aid to fund projects that support walking and biking as well, according to the release.
The borough of Little Silver received a grant award for the paving and curbing of Silverton Avenue from Branch Avenue to ProspectAvenue, which is a distance of .36 miles, according to Deputy Borough Clerk Helen Gormley.
The borough is planning to contribute an additional $62,750 to the project, Gormley said.
The borough of Red Bank received a grant award for the second phase of a street improvement project on Spring Street.
According to Councilwoman Sharon Lee, council liaison to the Department of Public Utilities, Spring Street is heavily trafficked and will be paved with the grant monies. She also said Jan. 11 that the Spring Street project may be included in the borough’s 2008 roads program.
The borough of Rumson also received a grant award for street improvement projects on various streets throughout the borough.
According to the press release, the municipal aid program is funded by the Transportation Trust Fund.
The release further states, the NJDOT allots each county a specific funding amount based on 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 awarding the contract and the remaining 25 percent upon completion of the project, according to the release.
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, according to the release.
Of the 835 grant requests received, which totaled more than $237 million, the NJDOT will fund 440 of the grants for this “popular” and “competitive” program, according to the NJDOT press release.