ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

ASSEMBLY, No. 1542

 

with Assembly committee amendments

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED: MARCH 25, 1996

 

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 1542, with committee amendments.

      Assembly Bill No. 1542, as amended, directs the Commissioner of Transportation to allocate and transfer $1,282,500 from an existing item or items in the FY 1997 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 West Trenton rail line, provides the only access to the Lost Valley Section of the borough for vehicles 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.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

 

      The Commissioner of Transportation is directed to allocate and transfer funds from the FY 1997 Transportation Trust Fund capital construction program for the Bridge Street bridge in Manville Borough, Somerset County. The funding is to be $1,282,500 as the State's share. The remaining amount of $142,500 or 10 percent of the project would be the local cost.

 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

 

      The amendment addresses the FY 1997 capital program while it is still in the proposal stage because FY 1996 will be ending shortly.