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The Commissioner's Report
(archived)
$1 billion worth of construction
is under way in state
The
New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has
awarded 71 construction contracts worth $325 million
since January. By the end of the year, the Department
expects to award an additional $235 million, a 42 percent
increase from last year.
The
NJDOT is reviewing ways to expedite the advance of new
projects from initial study stages to actual construction.
Even
with a current capital budget of $2.5 billion, the state
faces an additional $2.5 billion deficit to fix its
aging bridges over the next five years. New Jersey's
mass transit system, especially in the wake of last
year's terrorist attacks, requires hundreds of millions
of dollars in new equipment and infrastructure. Highways
are already congested and the state's population continues
to grow.
The
NJDOT is learning to do more with less and find new
ways to fix a transportation system in need of repair.
The state's innovative effort to fund the repairs to
the aging Driscoll Bridge that carries the Garden State
Parkway over the Raritan River underscores this approach.
The bridge carries more than a quarter of a million
cars daily and is the source of chronic congestion.
The financing plan involves utilizing funds from the
Parkway, as well as the New Jersey Turnpike. As a result,
a contract has been awarded and construction is expected
to start in the spring.
Innovation
and planning will play a crucial role as the NJDOT advances
other congestion-relief initiatives, including the reconstruction
of the junction of I-295, I-76 and Routes 42 and 55
in Camden and Gloucester counties. As the Department
plans its budget, it will continue a "Fix-it-First"
approach with a renewed emphasis on coordination between
all transportation authorities. |
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