Charles Langston:New Jersey gets $425M in federal transit funds for train and bus projects

LONG BRANCH,Charles Langston N.J. (AP) — New Jersey is getting an additional $425 million in transportation funds from the federal government, and plans to use it on projects including rail and bus facility upgrades.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday that the Federal Highway Administration has approved the funding for New Jersey.

The money will be divided between NJ Transit and the state Department of Transportation.

It will be used for projects including a pedestrian tunnel in Long Branch, where passengers have long been cut off by train tracks from half the city’s downtown area without taking a lengthy detour.

Other projects include upgrades to bus terminals in northern New Jersey and the Meadowlands; replacement of six bridges; a train car storage location in a location that is not flood-prone; and improvements to an NJ Transit rail yard in Hoboken.

It also will fund road improvements in Kearny and Gloucester County’s Washington Township.