ASSEMBLY, No. 1542

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 15, 1996

By Assemblymen KAVANAUGH and BATEMAN

An Act concerning expenditures from the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. From funds authorized by the Legislature to be appropriated from the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority for the FY 1996 transportation capital construction program, the Commissioner of Transportation shall allocate and transfer $1,282,500 from a part or all of any item or items to a new item for the improvement of the Bridge Street bridge over the Trenton Line in the Borough of Manville, Somerset County.

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill directs the Commissioner of Transportation to allocate and transfer $1,282,500 from an existing item or items in the FY 1996 Transportation Trust Fund capital construction program to a new item for the improvement of the Bridge Street bridge in the Borough of Manville, Somerset County.

    The Bridge Street bridge, an "orphan" bridge that carries traffic over the Trenton rail line, provides the only access to the Lost Valley Section of the borough for vehicles that are larger than a pickup truck. Currently, however, this bridge has a posted weight limit of 19 tons. As a result, access to Lost Valley by larger vehicles, including emergency vehicles, is limited. Furthermore, according to the Department of Public Works in Somerset County, the most recent bridge inspection report, dated November 16, 1992, indicates that the overall condition of the bridge was rated as critical due to the low inventory ratings, i.e., the condition rating of the substructure and the superstructure have both been downgraded to poor.

    Because it is important that this bridge continue to be able to provide access to a part of Manville, and because the bridge is considered to be an "orphan" bridge, the State should provide $1,282,500, which is 90 percent of the project costs; the remaining ten percent, $142,500, would be the local share of project costs. This is the same funding relationship provided under the New Jersey Bridge Rehabilitation and Improvement and Railroad Right-of-way Preservation Bond Act of 1989. However, since all of those bond funds have been appropriated, financial support can now best be provided by the Transportation Trust Fund.

Directs DOT Commissioner to allocate $1,282,500 in Transportation Trust Fund monies to improve Bridge Street bridge in Manville, Somerset County.