Newark - While accepting the Transportation Person of the Year Award from the Regional Business Partnership, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez today announced that 19 Liberty Corridor projects totaling nearly $200 million in value were included in the recently released New Jersey Department of Transportation draft Fiscal Year 2007 capital program. The projects, spanning seven counties in northern New Jersey, will help improve the flow of freight around the region, open up abandoned brownfields for redevelopment, and improve traffic conditions for hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans.

Investing in Liberty Corridor is investing in the economic future of New Jersey, and the quality of life of all New Jerseyans, Menendez said during the Regional Business Partnerships Annual Transportation Breakfast. The aim of the Liberty Corridor is to create an environment where people can take ideas from inception all the way to manufacturing and the global marketplace, and these projects will help us get there by providing the crucial infrastructure necessary to attract new businesses to New Jersey and maintain our position as a world leader in research and technology.

The Liberty Corridor is a multifaceted economic development strategy championed by Menendez. It combines road and rail improvements to help move freight throughout the region, harbor and terminal improvements to keep Port Elizabeth and Port Newark as the top seaport on the east coast, new freight movement strategies to ease congestion on our roadways and improve the quality of our air, brownfields redevelopment to put abandoned industrial properties to more productive use, and incentives to spur the continued growth of New Jerseys research & development sector.

Geographically, the Liberty Corridor starts at the Port of New York and New Jersey and runs southwest across the state, encompassing all or parts of Hudson, Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Union, Somerset, and Middlesex counties. The proposed Fiscal Year 07 capital plan for the New Jersey Department of Transportation contains 19 Liberty Corridor highway projects in seven counties, for a total of nearly 200 million dollars. This is in addition to the over 300 million dollars in Liberty Corridor projects in the Turnpike Authoritys and Port Authoritys FY 06/07 capital plans.

The following projects in the NJDOT draft FY07 Capital Program have been identified as part of the Liberty Corridor:

  • Rt. 120, Paterson Plank Road from Route 17 to Murray Hill Boulevard (Bergen County, $5.13M)
  • Rt. 3, Passaic River Crossing (Bergen County, $10M)
  • Rt. 3, Route 120 Southbound to Rt. 3 Eastbound Ramp (Bergen Co., $2.1M)
  • 69th Street Bridge (grade separation in Hudson County, $10M)
  • Rt. 1&9 Pulaski Skyway Interim Repairs (Hudson/Essex Cos., $10M)
  • Rt. 1&9, Secaucus Road to Broad Avenue (Hudson/Bergen Cos., $25.935M)
  • Rt. 1&9T, St. Pauls Avenue/Conrail Bridge (Hudson Co., $7.709M)
  • I-280, Stickel Bridge rehabilitation (Hudson/Essex Cos., $13.21M)
  • Rt. 7, Wittpen Bridge (Hudson Co., $6M)
  • Rt. 3, Valley Road and Notch/Rifle Camp Road (Passaic Co., $5.76M)
  • Rt. 1&9, Hayes Avenue Bridges & Operational Improvements (Essex Co., $36.1M)
  • CARGOMATE (Essex & Union Cos., $750k)
  • Kapkowski Road, North Avenue and Trumbull (Union Co., $3.336M)
  • I-78, Union County Rehabilitation ($23.5M)
  • Rt. 1&9, Production Way to East Lincoln Avenue, (Union/Middlesex Cos., $18.1M)
  • Carteret Industrial Road (Middlesex Co., $2.075 M)
  • Helen Street, Antonett Street to Metuchen Road (Middlesex Co., $2.145 M)
  • I-287, Raritan River Crossing Needs Analysis (Middlesex/Somerset, $500k)
  • Rt. 440, High Street Connector (Middlesex, $4M)
  • Rt. 440 Southbound, NJ Turnpike to South of Krell Ave. (Middlesex, $4.8M)

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