NJ Transportation Commissioner Orders Assessment Of Deficient Bridges

TRENTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- New Jersey's transportation commissioner has ordered reviews of the state's most structurally deficient bridges and warned if lawmakers don't come up with a way to fund repairs, towns won't receive any money this year for road work.

Nearly 600 bridges in New Jersey are structurally deficient, according to the state Department of Transportation.

The latest closure involved the right eastbound lane on Route 3 over the Hackensack River bridge between East Rutherford and Secaucus, which was shut down Wednesday for repairs that are expected to take two weeks. An inspection of the bridge identified flaws in the lower structural support column.

Trucks will be prohibited from traveling in the left lane during the closure.

The DOT review was ordered after a bridge in Cincinnati collapsed Monday.

Finding money for overpass and road repairs in New Jersey, however, is a big challenge, WCBS 880's Levon Putney reported. The state's Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for road projects using tolls and fuel taxes, is running dry, CBS2's Christine Sloan reported.

"This needs to get done, and this needs to get done now," said Hope Township Mayor Tim McDonough, who is also the chairman of the State League of Municipalities Transportation Trust Fund committee.

McDonough said mayors were polled and a slim majority said they'd approve of raising the gas tax to refill the trust fund for repairs.

"But they agreed with it only if it's dedicated," he added.

Daryn Iwicki, state chapter director of Americans for Prosperity, doesn't agree.

"I'd love for it to be dedicated, but again, where is the addressing of the cost to do business in the state of New Jersey?" he said. "I don't think that raising a tax is the only way of going."

The 14.5 cents-per-gallon tax on gas in New Jersey is one of the lowest in the country. A recent poll found that 68 percent of residents are against raising the gas tax, though some see no other way.

"If that's the way to get it done, you get it done," said Tom Morgan, of Brick.

Iwicki said he thinks lawmakers should take revenue dollars and cut unneeded spending to pay for road repairs.

The state's largest construction union said residents may have to choose between raising the gas tax or having their property taxes raised.

"The loss of the local aid really means that they don't do the work or they pay for it themselves," said Rob Lewandowski of the Labor International Union of North America.

The inspection order came on the same day that the right-hand lane on the Route 3 bridge eastbound over the Hackensack River between East Rutherford and Secaucus was closed due to cracks in the bridge's support structure. The left-hand lane also was closed to heavy trucks, while the center lanes remain unaffected.

In Dover, a bridge had to be closed due to safety concerns. There are holes in the wooden walkway planks, and through them, the railroad tracks below can be seen.

"It's old. It's deficient. It's no longer safe," Dover Mayor Jim Dodd told Sloan. "You could see that they put temporary structures here to hold up the bridge."

Dodd said there are only two ways to the other side of town, so the bridge repairs must be done.

The mayor said he heard the DOT and NJ TRANSIT would pay for the repairs. The Transportation Department, however, said it is not sure if it's responsible.

In July, the agency will cut more than $200 million in funding to towns and counties for bridge repairs.