MILLSTONE – Officials in Millstone Township have received $250,000 from the state that will permit them to perform work on a township road.
During a recent Township Committee meeting, officials acknowledged the receipt of a letter from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT), informing them the township was selected to receive $250,000 from the DOT’s Fiscal Year 2018 Municipal Aid Program for improvements to Red Valley Road. Officials said the money be dedicated toward paving the road.
According to Diane Gutierrez-Saccetti, the acting commissioner of the DOT, the department received 656 applications requesting more than $298.6 million for this year. The available amount of money in the Transportation Trust Fund was $161.25 million.
The $161.25 million is the largest amount of Municipal Aid grant awards in DOT history, according to a press release from the state. For this year, Millstone Township was one of 505 communities that was awarded a DOT grant. By comparison, $78.5 million in Municipal Aid grants from the DOT was distributed to 364 municipalities in 2017.
Gov. Phil Murphy credited a recent increase in the gas tax with more than doubling the amount of funds available for local road and bridge safety improvement projects, according to the press release.
“The renewal of the Transportation Trust Fund made it possible to more than double the size of the grant program from $78.75 million in 2017 to $161.25 million in 2018,” Murphy said. “These funds are instrumental in allowing each municipality to maintain its local roads and bridges in a state of good repair. Providing Municipal Aid grants to nearly 90 percent of our towns and cities is truly historic and demonstrates our commitment to relieve pressure on local property taxpayers.”
