Turnpike Authority Commissions Stantec For Interchange 40 Cost Estimate

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTPA) has employed professional consulting service Stantec to study the cost of a the proposed full interchange at Exit 40 of the Garden State Parkway in Galloway Township, according to the Ninth Legislative District

In a letter dated Dec. 13, 2012 and released to the media by the District Office on Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, the NJTPA says the scope of the work will include “providing cost estimates of various alternatives for a full interchange.” NJTPA expects the full study to be complete within six months.

Stantec was established in 1954, and provides consulting services in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics for infrastructure and facilities projects, according to the firm’s website. It employs about 12,000 people, and has 190 offices located throughout the continent, and four international offices.

The letter was sent in response to a letter sent by the district office made up of Sen. Christopher J. Connors, Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf and Assemblywoman DiAnne C. Gove, in October. The letter stated in part, that the district had introduced legislation S-2313, calling for the use Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) funds toward the project.

Connors specified in his letter that the delegation was in the process of drafting legislation that would earmark funding for the project as a supplemental appropriation, and was requesting a cost estimate for the project.

“Understanding the fiscal challenges involved with any large scale infrastructure project, we introduced S-2313 as a means of providing the state with an additional, viable funding option for appropriating the necessary funding to establish a full interchange at Exit 40,” Connors said in his letter to the NJTPA. “The legislation we are in the process of drafting is a more direct approach to fund the proposed project.”

Last summer, the state passed legislation that amended current law to require all future CRDA funds directed toward the Atlantic City Tourism District. This part of the proposal was not referenced in the NJTPA’s response.

In December, the NJTPA held a public event to discuss but residents were not permitted to ask questions about Interchange 40. Responses to questions asked at that event will be issued in a report to come out at a later date.