State funds road projects in local towns
BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN - Motorists who drive along Kings Highway East will be the beneficiaries of $175,000 in state funding for improvements to the well-traveled roadway.

Several Monmouth County municipalities are among the more than 400 towns that are receiving state municipal aid to fund street improvement projects, including Middletown, Hazlet, Keyport and Holmdel.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded $78.75 million in municipal aid to fund street improvement, rehabilitation and safety projects in 438 towns in New Jersey.

Hazlet was the recipient of $180,000, the highest amount of aid received among the three towns.

Middletown and Keyport each received $175,000 and Holmdel received $165,000.

According to Middletown Public Information Officer Cindy Herrschaft, the money will go toward improvements to the area of Route 35 and Heritage Road to defray the cost of roadway reconstruction.

It will also go toward resurfacing and is the first phase of a multiyear public works program.

"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 DOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri in a Dec. 27 press release.

In Hazlet the funding will go toward Poole Avenue, and in Keyport the aid will go toward improvements to Beers Street.

In Holmdel the funding will be used on Longbridge Road.

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.

According to the press release, the municipal aid program is funded by the Transportation Trust Fund.

The release further states that the DOT 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.

The DOT 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.

Of the 835 grant requests received, which totaled more than $237 million, the DOT will fund 440 of the grants for this "popular" and "competitive" program, according to the DOT press release.