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U.S. Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood announced Friday afternoon a $298.7 million transit capital grant to NJ Transit for 13 projects to improve aging infrastructure, ease traffic congestion and create jobs in the Garden State. The grant is part of the $423 million the public transit agency is receiving from the federal government under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly called the federal stimulus, according to the Office of the Governor.
The stimulus funds “represent the largest transit grant issued to date by the Federal Transit Administration,” said Gov. Jon S. Corzine, in a statement. Based on estimates that 7.7 jobs are created for every $1 million invested, the nearly $300 million in funding will generate more than 2,000 jobs in New Jersey, according to the governor’s office.

The ARRA funds currently are being directed to the 13 projects, all of which are under way or scheduled to begin by the end of the year, the office said.

The projects with the largest funding amounts are the final design and construction of the trans-Hudson rail tunnel, which will be awarded $130 million; the rehabilitation of NJ Transit’s bus fleet, which will receive $35 million; and the second phase of the Lower Hack Bridge rehabilitation, which will be allocated $30 million. NJ Transit’s Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton Line trains travel over the three-track bridge to cross the Hackensack River between Kearny and Jersey City.

Other funded projects include the new Pennsauken Transit Center that will connect the River Line and Atlantic City line, a new Plauderville Station in Bergen County, and a new 500-space parking lot that will more than double the parking capacity at Edison Station.

E-mail Evelyn Lee @ elee@njbiz.com
By Evelyn Lee
8/14/2009