Nearly $170,000 Designated to Help Reduce Crashes Along Portions of Rts. 1, 9 & 22 in Union County
Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan and Assemblywoman Annette Quijano Tuesday praised the awarding of nearly $170,000 in safe corridor grants to Union County.
“Increasing police patrols and fines for traffic violations along some of our state’s most dangerous stretches has had a significant positive impact since the program was established in 2003,” said Cryan (D-Union). “This grant money will help continue to fund the effort to make New Jersey’s most perilous stretches of highway safer for everyone.”
Established in 2003, New Jersey’s Safe Corridor initiative doubles fines for a variety of driving offences, including speeding and aggressive driving, on roughly 14 ten mile sections of state roadways, based on statistics showing a crash rate 50 percent over the state rate and 1,000 or more crashes over three years. The increased fines, coupled with improved safety initiatives – such as signal timing modification and pavement marking – are designed to reduce the number of accidents that occur.
The Elizabeth safe corridor, which comprises parts of U.S. 1 & 9 from approximately milepost 42.92 to 45.45, was awarded a $43,762 grant. The Union Township safe corridor, which comprises parts of U.S. 22 from approximately milepost 52.94 to 56.51, was awarded the maximum grant amount of $125,169. Grants were divided by need, with locations experiencing the highest volume, frequency and severity of crashes and accidents receiving a larger grant award.
“Through increased patrols and infrastructure improvements, the safe corridor program saves lives, plain and simple,” said Quijano (D-Union). “And, thanks to the money provided by this grant, the program will continue to have the reDests necessary to protect motorists along New Jersey’s most dangerous pieces of highway.”