Secaucus Gets $550K Grant To Pave Flanagan Way

SECAUCUS, NJ — Secaucus received an unusually large grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation last week, the bulk of which will go to paving Flanagan Way, Mayor Mike Gonnelli said.

Secaucus received a $550,000 grant from the state, which will be used for paving both sides of Flanagan Way, from its start at the Dunkin' Donuts to its end at the Shell gas station. At the its Council meeting tomorrow night, Secaucus will hire an engineer and the paving will probably begin in May. The paving will take about a month.

Gonnelli said he's received some resident complaints about the potholes on Flanagan Way. With the money left over, the town will also repair curbs and sidewalks on Flanagan Way.

That $550,000 is about double the amount of aid Secaucus usually receives from the state. New Jersey was able to give out its highest allotment ever of state aid this year, due to the mostly unpopular gas tax that was passed under Gov. Chris Christie last year. The tax on gasoline more than doubled the amount of funds in New Jersey's Transportation Trust Fund, which is money used for local road and bridge safety improvement projects.

More than $161 million total went to 505 New Jersey communities this year; compare that to 2017 when only $78.75 million in municipal aid grants was distributed to 364 municipalities.

Gov. Phil Murphy praised the amount of increased aid the state was able to allot.

“These funds are instrumental in allowing each municipality to maintain its local roads and bridges in a state of good repair," Murphy said in a statement. "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.”

All the towns getting state aid from New Jersey's Transportation Trust Fund: http://www.state.nj.us/transpo...

All photos by Carly Baldwin/Secaucus Patch