Gov. Chris Christie came to Hunterdon County on May 3, 2017, to highlight the progress of a $6 million Route 202 resurfacing project in Central Jersey. Watch video
READINGTON TWP. - Gov. Chris Christie came to Hunterdon County on Wednesday to highlight the progress of a $6 million Route 202 resurfacing project in Central Jersey.
"Today, we're standing in front of a roadway that I travel on every day, from my home in Mendham to the Statehouse in Trenton," Christie said, adding "as I can tell you traveling on it every day myself, a lot of folks use this road every day and they're going to see the improvement from it."
The project includes resurfacing 9 miles of Route 202 from Raritan Township in Hunterdon County to Branchburg in Somerset County, according to a news release. Christie noted the repaving work is being done at night on the busy highway, which sees up to 40,000 vehicles traveling on it each weekday.
The Route 202 improvements will impact 35,000-40,000 vehicles that travel this section of roadway each day. #TTF4NJ #BetterThanWeFoundIt pic.twitter.com/Icy9UTMDee
-- Governor Christie (@GovChristie) May 3, 2017
Christie signed a supplemental bill at the end of March that provided $400 million in immediate funds to the state Department of Transportation for projects. On Wednesday, the governor said the $400 million will "then be added to the $2 billion that you'll see in Fiscal Year 2018 beginning on July 1."
Christie said the state's goal is to reach an 80-percent acceptable rate on its roadways across the state. The rate is currently 67-percent, Christie said, up 20-percent from the time he took office.
"So, it will help our commuters, it will help our citizens who work in this industry, and it will help New Jersey's economy," Christie said. "The public will notice the difference and this is what this plan has all been about and why I pushed for the $400 million supplemental in the first place."