Engineering Assistance
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) increased funding for the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) which is a core Federal-aid program with the purpose of achieving a significant reduction in fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, including non-State-owned public roads. Highway Safety Improvement projects must be consistent with the State’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and are selected on the basis of supportive crash data.
Once Local Safety and High Risk Rural Roads Program projects are selected for funding by the NJTPA Board of Trustees, successful applicants work with the NJDOT Division of Local Aid and Economic Development (NJDOT-LA) to fulfill all requirements for federal authorization to construct the projects. The NJTPA has developed the Local Safety Engineering Assistance Program (LSEAP) as a means to provide professional consultant support services to the successful applicants to prepare the plans, specifications and estimates (PSE) package and other necessary documents for construction authorization. The design assistance program began in 2013 and, through seven solicitations for consultant support, has increased substantially over 10 years. More than 75 percent of applicants to the Local Safety/High Risk Rural Roads programs utilize design assistance. The FY 2024 program will provide approximately $20 Million for the design of 18 projects.
The timeframe generally needed to complete preliminary engineering (PE Phase), the environmental approval process, the PSE package (FD Phase) and receive federal authorization is approximately 48-60 months. The work under these contracts includes both preliminary engineering and final design. Initial consultant contract authorizations include funding for preliminary engineering phase work only. Once preliminary engineering documents have been completed, the project must receive a Categorical Exclusion Document (CED) approval from NJDOT Bureau of Environmental Program Resources (NJDOT-BEPR) prior to the NJTPA requesting and receiving authorization to amend the consultant’s contract to commence the final design phase.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Christine Mittman
Project Manager, Safety Programs
973-639-8448
[email protected]
Patricia Newton
Project Lead, Safety Programs
973-877-8128
[email protected]
or
Sascha Frimpong
Director, Local Programs and Project Development
973-639-8422
[email protected]