Village, Borough Receive Infrastructure Grants

Ridgewood and Glen Rock are receiving some help attending to road projects.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) announced last week that it has awarded 387 Local Aid grants to 376 cities and towns across the state to advance street improvement, rehabilitation and safety projects. Local Aid grants allow municipalities to move forward with road rehabilitation projects without burdening local property taxpayers.

Ridgewood was awarded $146,500 for paving Garber and Wilsey Square. Officials said they haven't put a bid out on the work, but hope to begin work soon. Several other road pavings have begun within the last few weeks in Ridgewood, notably on Grove St. and S. Broad St.

Glen Rock was also the recipient of $146,500 for paving work on Hamilton Ave. (section 3) and drainage work on Belmont Rd. Borough Administrator Lenora Benjamin did not respond to a request for comment. 

The bulk of the Local Aid grants were offered under the Municipal Aid program, through which 374 grants totaling $76,126,200 were distributed. Another 10 Local Aid Infrastructure Fund (LAIF) grants worth $1,810,000 and three Safe Streets to Transit (SSTT) grants worth $500,000 were also announced. 

Competition is always strong for grants under the NJDOT Local Aid program. The NJDOT reported that only 374 of 661 2012 Municipal Aid grant applications were awarded a grant.