WASHINGTON, DC—Today, U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced an additional $10 million in emergency highway funding to help return New Jersey's highways and roads to working condition. The funding, through the U.S. Department of Transportation, will be distributed by the New Jersey Department of Transportation to restore traffic services, establish detours, and perform emergency roadway repairs on federal-aid roads and bridges that were damaged by Superstorm Sandy. On November 1, President Obama approved an initial $10 million in transportation aid for New Jersey after the Senators requested quick release of emergency federal funding earlier that day.

“New Jersey's economy relies on on a safe, reliable transportation system, and this federal funding will help restore our roadways and bridges,” said Senator Lautenberg, a member of the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee. “We are committed to providing New Jersey with the resources it need to rebuild, and we will continue fighting for federal funding to ease the cost of recovery for the state and municipalities.”

“Sandy’s powerful storm surge overwhelmed our state and the resulting damage to our transportation system is unlike anything we have previously seen. From our ports to our rails to our roads, the arteries of our transportation system shut down, hurting industries, our economy and all those New Jerseyans who depend on them,”said Menendez. “I applaud the federal government for responding to our request to provide emergency resources for New Jersey’s transit agencies that oversee our roads and bridges. This funding is critical to not only help get all of New Jersey moving again, but to make improvements so that the next disaster does not cripple our transportation system as badly as this one.”

This morning, Senator Lautenberg, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, chaired a Subcommittee hearing entitled, “Superstorm Sandy: The Devastating Impact on the Nation’s Largest Transportation Systems.” The Subcommittee heard testimony from witnesses from New Jersey Transit, MTA, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Amtrak.

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