New Jersey, Kansas Approve Millions for Road and Bridge Improvements

Two states have recently allocated millions of dollars for localities to pursue infrastructure improvements over the next few years

First, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced $150 million County Aid funds for local-level infrastructure improvements.

The state’s 21 counties will share the money, with exact amounts determined by population and road mileage. A full list of allotments can be found here.

The County Aid program is supported by the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund.

Each New Jersey county will decide which road or bridge projects receives the money. The work must be improvements to public roads and bridges under county jurisdiction, or other transportation related projects, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

“The millions of dollars in County Aid provides funding to ensure our local infrastructure is maintained in a state of good repair without burdening local taxes,” NJDOT Commissioner Fran O’Connor said in a news release.

Halfway across the country, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly declared $25 million for 30 infrastructure projects to improve intersections and roads across the state.

Work sites include both U.S. and Kansas highways. A full list of funded projects can be found here.

The work comes in three categories: surface preservation, pavement restoration or geometric improvement. Surface preservation to extend the life of a driving surface, like overlays or joint repair, gets up to $400,000 per project. Pavement rehabilitation and geometric improvements such as adding turn lanes receive up to $1.5 million per project.

The Kansas Department of Transportation’s City Connecting Link Improvement Program chose the projects that would be funded. The program gives cities money to improve connectivity via state highways.

“Enhancing the safety and accessibility of our local highways is made possible by grants through this essential program,” Kelly said in a news release. “In turn, these roadway improvements help bring in resources and improve connectivity in various regions of the state.”

Sources: New Jersey Department of Transportation, Kansas Office of the Governor