The Obama administration on Friday said it would redistribute $473 million in federal highway and transit funds, including $29 million in Pennsylvania and $14 million in New Jersey.
The money had been earmarked for specific projects between 2003 and 2006 but was not spent. Now it will be given to state departments of transportation to use on any projects by the end of this year, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.
Each state will receive the amount it was originally allocated.
Included in the money is $3.5 million to be transferred from the Delaware River Port Authority to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the federal announcement said. The money had been earmarked for maintenance of the Ben Franklin Bridge, according to the announcement.
A DRPA spokesman said the agency was reviewing its accounts Friday to determine whether the money had, in fact, been spent.
Included in New Jersey's money was $792,000 for a waterfront parking garage in Camden that will be returned to the New Jersey Department of Transportation, along with $1.9 million for a highway reconstruction project at the junction of Routes 42 and 55 and Interstate 676 near Belmawr.
States must identify by Oct. 1 the projects for which they plan to use the money and must have contracts signed by Dec. 31.
PennDot spokesman Steve Chizmar said the agency was "sorting out exactly what this means for Pennsylvania, but we, of course, welcome the additional dollars."
NJDot spokesman Joseph Dee said the agency would "make a decision as to whether we can authorize the funding" to the projects for which it was originally intended, "or if we need to reallocate the funds to other projects and get it spent."
Contact Paul Nussbaum at 215-854-4587 or pnussbaum@phillynews.com .
