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Rail News Home Passenger Rail

10/7/2010



Rail News: Passenger Rail

Work resumes on New Jersey transit projects after one-day stoppage


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Earlier this week, work on a number of transportation and transit construction projects in New Jersey resumed after a one-day funding-related stoppage.

The state legislature’s joint budget oversight committee authorized a transportation trust fund authority bonding and refinancing plan, helping the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and New Jersey Transit resume "active or imminent" construction projects, as well as design, engineering and consulting work associated with the projects, according to the agencies.

The authorization also enables NJDOT to resume processing payments to local governments for approved local aid transportation projects.

“All active construction and local aid projects are moving forward, as well as design and engineering work connected to active construction jobs, imminent state of good repair projects and those projects that promote public safety,” said New Jersey Transportation Commissioner James Simpson in a prepared statement.

Projects that rely fully on federal funding were not affected by the work stoppage, NJDOT officials said.

The stoppage remains in place for NJDOT and NJ Transit projects that currently are in the planning and development phase.

“We are taking the prudent step of extending the hold on early planning and design work at least until the bond sale and refinancing plan is executed,” Simpson said. “We will use this time to conduct a cost-benefit review of each of these proposals.”

State-funded projects were halted Monday because transportation trust fund resources to pay for the projects had reached "critically low levels" due to a delay in joint budget oversight committee approval for the bonding and refinancing proposal, state officials said.