Six Northwest New Jersey towns to receive federal grant money to improve local transportation

NORTH JERSEY – New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) in partnership with the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) today announced the award of $35.8 million for 32 federal grants under the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TA Set-Aside) program.

“As part of NJDOT’s Commitment to Communities, we work with the three regional planning authorities to provide federal funding to counties and municipalities for local transportation projects that improve safety and strengthen the cultural, aesthetic, and environmental aspects of our transportation system,” NJDOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said. “The grants announced today will fund projects to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists in 32 North Jersey communities without having to impact local property taxes.”

The competitive TA Set-Asides program provides funds to build pedestrian and bicycle facilities, improve access to transportation, create safe routes to school, preserve historic transportation structures, provide environmental mitigation, and create trail projects that serve a transportation purpose while promoting safety and mobility. It is administered by the NJDOT in partnership with NJTPA, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), and the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization (SJTPO) with grants being awarded every two years.

Here are the towns in Northwest New Jersey that are receiving grant money:

• Hunterdon County: High Bridge High Bridge Streetscaping and Sidewalk Replacement $520,000.00
• Morris County: Chatham Township Chatham Township Southern Boulevard to Green Village Connector Trail $1,246,000.00
• Morris County: Washington Township Washington Township Non-Motorized Connectivity Improvements $808,000.00
• Sussex County: Newton Newton Memory Park Connector Boardwalk $749,000.00
• Sussex County: Sussex Sussex Route 23 South Streetscape $644,000.00
• Warren County: Phillipsburg Phillipsburg Riverfront Heritage Trail Phase 1 $1,368,000.00

The DVRPC and SJTPO will announce their grants later this month. For a complete list of towns receiving NJTPA grants, click here.

The solicitation round for applications began May 24, 2022 and ran through November 3, 2022. A total of 68 applications requesting approximately $82 million were received from municipalities in the NJTPA region. Total available grant funding is nearly $18 million for each of the two years. The NJTPA is a 13-county region in northern New Jersey, which includes Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren counties.

As of 2021, the program now includes an equity component. Projects in eligible communities received additional technical assistance with the grant application, as well as additional points during the scoring process. Eligible communities were determined by U.S. Census data identifying low-income residents, racial and ethnic minorities, those with limited English proficiency, persons with disabilities, children, and older adults. Each individual municipality is responsible for implementing their Transportation Alternative Set-Aside projects.

For more information about Local Aid programs go to www.njdotlocalaidrc.com; email DOTLocalAID.ResourceCenter@dot.nj.gov or call 609-649-9395.