UPDATED: Township Receives $200K Grant to Resurface Part of Mountain Road

The township has received a $200,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation that is earmarked to resurface part of Mountain Road later this year.

Township Engineer Tom Timko on Thursday morning said the entire project will cost about $550,000, and the state grant will pay for part. The resurfacing of the entire road, about two miles in length, could take place by summer, he said.

The Christie administration on Tuesday announced that 17 Somerset County municipalities will share $2.9 million in grants under the 2011 state Municipal Aid program. The grants are among 370 statewide totaling $78.75 million to help municipalities advance street improvements, safety and other projects, according to a news release from the NJDOT.

Bernards Township applied last year to the NJDOT grant program, as the municipality does every year, to seek financing for a road scheduled for improvements under a rotation program for road upgrades, said Mayor John Malay.

The township aims to upgrade all local roads on a rotation basis of about five to eight years, depending upon how much a road is heavily traveled, Malay said. 

 The highly competitive program is part of New Jersey’s $200 million Local Aid program administered by NJDOT, according to the state release. The DOT received 677 applications requesting more than $246 million for the 2011 financial year municipal aid grants.

“This administration recognizes the value and importance of the Local Aid program,” said NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson.   “The municipal aid component helps relieve some pressure on property taxes and enables local officials to make street improvements that they otherwise might not be able to afford.”

Municipal governments maintain more than 28,000 centerline miles of streets and roads, or 74 percent of the statewide total. The grant program covers a variety of projects, including road resurfacing and reconstruction projects. However, towns are encouraged to submit applications for such non-traditional projects as those that support safety, walking and biking and streetscape improvements in their communities. Seven percent of the projects selected for funding were of that type.

Malay said many of the major roads running through the township are county roads. However, he said that Mountain Road is a local road that must be maintained by the township.

“This announcement is great news for hundreds of municipalities as they work to stretch their resources, control spending and reduce the property tax burden on residents,” said William G. Dressel Jr., executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities.

Under the Municipal Aid grant program, each county is apportioned a share of the total funding based on population, the number of local centerline miles and other factors, and municipalities compete for portions of their county’s share. NJDOT pledges to provide 75 percent of the grant amount when a municipality awards a contract for a project and the remaining 25 percent when that project is completed, the news release said.

The release said that $175,000 also was awarded to Bedminster Township for the improvement of Airport Road, and $175,000 was awarded to Bernardsville for the improvement of Dryden Road.