UTCA STATEMENT REGARDING ONGOING DEVELOPMENTS AT U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT & BUDGET

WALL – Utility and Transportation Contractors Association (UTCA) Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Briant, Jr. and Executive Director David Rible issued the following joint statement today regarding ongoing developments at the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Office of Management and Budget related to the availability of federal funding to fund critical New Jersey infrastructure projects:

“The State of New Jersey depends on over $8 billion of federal funding to build critical infrastructure projects. Discussion of a ‘funding freeze’ and a new order issued yesterday by the U.S. Department of Transportation to ‘update and revise’ grant agreements, directly impact the capital programs of NJ TRANSIT and the New Jersey Department of Transportation and threatens the ability of those agencies to continue work on major infrastructure projects that will benefit the State of New Jersey. 

“It is vital that our infrastructure be maintained to a state of good repair and that the federal government’s financial commitments to existing projects continue. Multi-year, large investments in infrastructure require predictable funding sources. Uncertainty is untenable and can have the potential to delay work on infrastructure projects that New Jersey sorely needs.