RESCHEDULED GOVERNOR’S TRANSPORTATION CONFERENCE TO FOCUS ON STIMULUS IMPACTS
Trenton, NJ --- The 6th Annual Governor’s Transportation Conference, which was postponed by a snowstorm, has been rescheduled for Monday, April 13.

Hosted again by the New Jersey Alliance for Action, the Conference will be held at the Lafayette Yard Marriott Conference Center beginning with registration at 8:00 a.m. followed by the program at 9:00 a.m. A capacity audience of more than 700 is expected.

The program will feature and focus will be on the effects of Federal Stimulus funding on major New Jersey projects such as the Trans-Hudson rail tunnel, extension of PATCO in South Jersey, and improvements to the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway.

In addition to Governor Corzine’s keynote address, other speakers will include:
Chairman Anthony Coscia of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; State Commissioner of Transportation Stephen Dilts; Executive Director Richard Sarles of NJ Transit; John Matheussen, CEO of the Delaware River Port Authority, and Raymond Pocino, Vice President & Eastern Regional Manager, Laborers International Union of North America. Senators Lautenberg and Menendez, who were planning to speak at the original scheduled conference, are hoping to appear.
To registerGo Here.

FEDERAL STIMULUS FUNDS --- HOW TO GET IN ON THE ACTION!
How will the expected $1.2 billion in federal stimulus dollars for New Jersey be allocated and what capital construction projects will be funded? To get first-hand information, you should be at the special conference on Thursday, April 2, hosted by the Alliance for Action. Appropriately, it is called “Economic Stimulus --- How to get in on the Action.”

The conference at the Lafayette Yard Marriott Conference Center will feature top state and federal officials and will begin with registration at 8:00 a.m. followed by the program at 9:00 a.m. Reports will be given and questions answered. The presenters include:
Jerry Zaro, Chief of the Governor’s Office of Economic Growth, State Transportation Commissioner Stephen Dilts, Dennis Merida, Division Administrator, Federal Highway Administration.

Dennis Hart, Executive Director, New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust; Mary K. Murphy, Executive Director, North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority; Timothy Chelius, Executive Director, South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization and Barry Seymour, Executive Director, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Authority.
Reservations are going fast. To register Go Here.

CORZINE ANNOUNCES $894 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION
Governor Jon Corzine announced that New Jersey will invest $894 million in federal stimulus funds for highway and transit projects statewide. The transportation allocations will include $652 million for highways and bridges and approximately $425 million for transit.

The largest single allocation $130 million, will be a down payment on construction of the new ARC rail tunnel under the Hudson River serving New Jersey and New York.

Included in the investments announced by the Governor are some $162 million for county and local transportation priorities and $19.5 million for transportation enhancement projects.

In a joint statement, Corzine and US Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez said the federal economic recovery package will provide funds to projects that can start in a matter of weeks. They said this will reinvigorate the state’s economy and mitigate impacts of the national recession.

For a complete list of NJDOT projects selected for ARRA funding, please view the following link: http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/capital/stimulus/pdf/NJDOTARRAprojects.pdf

DRPA APPROVES $11 MILLION FOR KEY TRANSIT-RELATED PROJECTS
The Delaware River Port Authority approved $11 million in economic development grants that will fund transit-related projects in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The grants are designed to boost traffic on the Authority’s bridges and ridership on the PATCO High Speed Line.

The New Jersey grants are:
-$2 million for demolition of the neglected Parkade Building and infrastructure and capital improvement in the vicinity of PATCO’s City Hall Station.
-$1.5 million for site acquisition, demolition, relocation and other capital costs associated with development of a new research campus for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in the vicinity of PATCO’s City Hall and Broadway stations.
-$1.5 million for infrastructure improvements along the Gateway Corridor in the vicinity of Admiral Wilson Boulevard and the foot of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

DEP SETS HEARING ON TURNPIKE WIDENING ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITS
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will conduct a public hearing on Wednesday, March 18, on environmental permit applications for the New Jersey Turnpike $2.7 billion widening between Interchanges 6 and 9. The hearing will be held at 7 p.m. at the East Windsor Holiday Inn, 399 Monmouth Street.

The Turnpike Authority says the widening project will generate thousands of construction industry jobs over the next five years. For additional information on the hearing and/or widening project, please visit the website at www.njturnpikewidening.com.

UTILITIES TO ACCELERATE $1.3 BILLION IN CAPITAL INVESTMENTS
New Jersey utilities will accelerate plans to spend nearly $1.3 billion on capital projects in response to Governor Jon Corzine’s desire to stimulate utility providers to invest and create jobs. In filing with the State Board of Public Utilities, the companies said they would speed up anticipated four years of projects over the next two years to create more than 2,500 jobs.

The largest total of capital investments by Public Service Electric & Gas was estimated at $888 million by Ralph LaRossa, President and Chief Operating Officer. South Jersey Gas will account for the next biggest investment of $120 million, according to President Edward Graham.

The other planned capital expenditures are $98 million by Jersey Central Power & Light: $71 million by New Jersey Natural Gas, and $62 million by Atlantic City Electric.

Governor Corzine stated: “I am gratified by the responsiveness of New Jersey’s electric and gas utility companies to invest in our state’s infrastructure. I encourage the BPU to prioritize the review of these projects.”

CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY FOR $1 BILLION TRENTON HOSPITAL
Years of planning culminated in the start of the project to replace the aging Mercer Medical Center in Trenton, highlighted by a new 223-bed hospital and medical office building on a 165-acre site. The estimated $1 billion project will be funded by Capital Health and is expected to be up and running in 2011.

The new hospital will include Capital Health’s Regional Cancer Center, Institute of Neurosciences and the state’s only CyberKnife Center. A later project will be a major revamp of Capital Health’s Fuld Hospital, also in Trenton.

CEO FRANZINI OF NJ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY TO SPEAK TO ALLIANCE
Caren Franzini, Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, will feature the next “Meet the Players” program sponsored by the Alliance for Action on Tuesday, March 17. Her agency is expected to play a key role in the distribution of economic stimulus funding in the state.

The program will begin at 10 a.m., following registration at 9:30 a.m., at Alliance for Action headquarters, 3rd floor, Raritan Plaza II, Raritan Center, Edison.
To register Go Here.

PSE&G WANTS TO INSTALL SOLAR PANELS ON POLES IN $773 MILLION PLAN In other big news from a utility company, Public Service Electric & Gas Co. announced a $773 million project to install solar panels on 220,000 utility poles. The poles would be in a service territory south from Bergen County to Gloucester County and from Hudson County west to Mercer County.

The project would power the equivalent of 20,000 homes when it is completed over the next five years --- nearly 7 percent of the state’s renewable energy mandate by 2020. The State Board of Public Utilities has six months to respond to the plans. The project also would involve local towns because the company wants to lease rooftop space on municipal buildings and schools to install solar panels.

PSE&G initially would sell bonds to pay for the program and then recover those costs from its 2.1 million customers, whose electric bills would rise by 10 cents a month during the first five years and between 10 and 35 cents in subsequent years.

SCACCETTI REPORTS CAPITAL PLANS FOR TURNPIKE AND PARKWAY
Diane Scaccetti, the new Executive Director of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, gave a project-by-project report on the Authority’s capital construction plans to an overflow audience of 200 at another “Meet the Players” session hosted by the Alliance for Action. Scaccetti said the Authority’s overall capital plans total $7 billion for the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway

The Authority intends to finance its project by selling bonds in the market at a competitive rate. She declared: “We will have the money and we will do the work.”

The biggest overall project, Scaccetti reported, is the $2.7 billion widening of the Turnpike, but she also provided project breakdowns for 2009, 2010 and 2011.
-2009 --- $223 million, including $35 million for Turnpike Bridge Deck repairs and reconstruction.
-2010 --- $323 million, led by deck reconstruction of $60 million at the Turnpike Newark Bay Bridge and $20 million for the Mullica River Bridge.
-2011 --- $664 million, including $150 million for Parkway shoulder improvements from MP 84 to 99, and $100 million each for improvements to Turnpike Interchanges 9, 10, and 11 and the Turnpike easterly Hackensack Bridge.

LAUTENBERG TO CHAIR SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONSUMER SAFETY
U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, will chair the subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works Committee that will oversee the nation’s Superfund program, regulation of consumer products and hazardous waste. He announced that he will reintroduce the Kids Safe Chemicals Act to protect Americans, especially children, from toxic chemicals in everyday consumer products.

Lautenberg also will continue to serve on the Senate Appropriations and Commerce Committee and chair the subcommittees on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security.

FEDERAL AID COMING FOR BOUND BROOK FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT
An appropriations bill was passed by the US House of Representatives to include $10 million toward the final stage of Bound Brook’s $113 million flood control program. President Obama was expected to sign it into law. The money for the 2009 fiscal year would go toward completing the Talmadge Avenue Bridge and a levee as part of the Green Brook Flood Control project.

US Army Corps of Engineers project manager John O’Connor said $13 million is still needed to finish the project, including two flood control closure gates.

RUTGERS ANNOUNCES $500 MILLION CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM
Rutgers University announced a $500 million capital construction program to build 20 new academic and student facilities on its New Brunswick, Newark and Camden campuses. The projects include a $25 million Institute for Life Sciences on New Brunswick’s campus, $12 million in renovations to Camden’s recreational center, and $5.4 million in additional research laboratories in Newark.

Rutgers said the three-year program is projected to create 5,000 jobs through 2011. Part of the funding will come from $233.1 million in general obligation bonds sold by Rutgers in February that will be repaid through user fees and other university revenues.

STATE BPU ANNOUNCES FEDERAL FUNDING FOR SOLAR PROJECTS
A new program funded through the federal economic stimulus package was announced by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to help solar “shovel-ready” projects get started. The program, known as NJGreen, would use an initial $30 million in federal stimulus dollars to get 190 solar projects completed as quickly as possible.

An additional $30 million in federal money may be available in coming months, which would increase the number of projects to between 300 and 400. The program is designed to assist homeowners who had begun solar projects but had to stop due to the faltering economy. The project winners could be chosen by October, pending BPU approval and timely arrival of federal funding.

NEW HARRISON PATH STATION MOVING AHEAD
Renderings for a new $168 million PATH station in Harrison were unveiled by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Final design is expected to be completed this year for the station, which is part of a major makeover of the area that includes Red Bull Arena and a large-scale residential development.

Construction will begin in 2011. The Port Authority also will build a five-level parking deck next to the station. Last year 1.8 million passengers used the station. That number is expected to quadruple to about 6,000 as a result of the redevelopment project.

CONTINENTAL TOPS LIST OF MOST ADMIRED AIRLINES Continental Airlines for the sixth consecutive year was rated the top airline in Fortune Magazine’s annual airline industry list of the World’s Most Admired Companies. Continental also was ranked among the top ten companies for management quality across all industries.

Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, Continental is the world’s fifth largest airline with more than 42,000 employees. Newark International Liberty Airport is one of the airline’s hubs.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
- Marilyn D. Davis and Mark Matzen have been appointed by Governor Jon Corzine as Deputy Chiefs of Staff. Davis will handle legislative initiatives and relations. Matzen’s responsibilities include outreach and coordination with local elected officials and the Office of Appointments.
- Ed McBride, Chief of Staff, and State Comptroller Matt Boxer were named by Governor Corzine to lead the group which will oversee implementation of the expected $17.4 billion New Jersey will receive from the federal stimulus plan.

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