WSW Secures Major Federal Transportation Investments for Urban County

Federal investment in transportation infrastructure is a bipartisan, non-partisan priority, and an urgent need for communities nationwide. Infrastructure investment to renew transportation networks which have become antiquated or overwhelmed unlocks tremendous economic development and job growth regionally. Similarly, the education infrastructure represents a critical link in the chain of economic competitiveness in urban areas. For 20 years, WSW has worked with a county that is one of the most densely populated and highly industrialized areas in the country to ensure that federal investments in the infrastructure used by hundreds of thousands of residents and businesses annually are enhanced, with tremendous benefits to the local and regional economy.

During the course of our advocacy, WSW has helped the county secure funding for a wide array of initiatives related to its road and highway transportation networks, higher education, parks and recreational facilities, and more. In one of its most recent and most important initiatives, WSW worked with the county to tackle a significant initiative to improve a key corridor linking Jersey City and Newark which is critical to the local and regional economy. In close proximity to Newark Liberty International Airport and the Port Newark Terminal, the corridor hosts significant logistical, commercial, and industrial facilities for the county’s largest employers, including a major United States Postal Service distribution hub for the metropolitan New York region, and acts as a connector between two interstate highways. Unfortunately, commercial and civilian traffic on the corridor is frequently affected by flooding, which makes it unsafe and impassable even in minor rain events. To address this priority, WSW helped the county engage its elected officials on Capitol Hill to explain the economic and safety benefits of major upgrades to the corridor, which have yielded $5 million in federal funding for reconstructing and rehabilitating the corridor as part of a larger project to ensure modernized and upgraded mobility and access to facilitate current traffic and stimulate growth in the years ahead.