TRENTON, NJ—The massive and continuing development of large industrial properties for distribution of ever-larger cargos out of the Port of New York and New Jersey could cause economic problems for New Jersey and the region if the transportation infrastructure for those facilities does not get upgraded as well, the president of New Jersey's State Chamber of Commerce is warning.
Thomas Bracken, chamber president, expressed his concerns in an appearance earlier this month before the New Jersey Bank Marketing Association's economic outlook meeting in Clark, NJ, and tells GlobeSt.com exclusively that "We need to have roads that keep the incoming cargo from piling up."
"This is a very big logistics state, it's one of the biggest industries we have, it accounts for a lot of the revenue and the gross state product," Bracken says. Disruption of that industry would have a negative effect on the rest of the state's economy, he adds. "The port is one of our biggest assets and we want to take advantage of it. Without an influx of new money into the infrastructure fund, that's not going to happen."
For the ports in particular, where extensive investments have been made to prepare docks and warehouse facilities to accommodate larger cargo ships as the newer, wider Panama Canal opens next year, "the whole infrastructure of highways and bridges around there is in need of repair," Bracken says. "The bridge situation in New Jersey is deplorable. We have 60 percent of our bridges deemed structurally deficient or obsolete. I am sure there are many bridges in the port area that trucks go over, carrying heavy cargo, that are in bad shape."
The delicate condition of New Jersey's highway system means that if portions of the New Jersey Turnpike need to be closed for repairs, the resulting delays ripple through other arteries in the highway system.
"The ripple effect of having something shut down on a major artery is monumental," he says. "More and more bridges are being closed, more and more roads are being closed because they are in disrepair. The more that happens, the worse this is all going to get."
Bracken is chairing a coalition called Forward NJ, which is advocating the replenishment of the state's Transportation Trust Fund, which successive administrations have used as a piggy bank to cover budget shortfalls elsewhere. The Trust Fund is normally funded by fuel taxes, but New Jersey's gasoline levies are among the lowest in the country, and Bracken says there is a lack of political will to increase those taxes to provide stable funding for the TTF.
New Jersey needs to find a funding source for the TTF, "so we can take care of our roads, expand our roads and bridges, and maintain our infrastructure in a way that's compatible with how good it is," Bracken says.
"I'm not sure what the legislature will come up with, but we gave them a number of ideas to find the revenue needed, one of which was an increase in the gas tax," Bracken says. "Our neighboring states like New York, I think theirs is 58 cents, Pennsylvania is 48. We have not increased our gas tax in 27 years."
Highways and bridges in New Jersey need about $2 billion annually for maintenance and expansion.
"For every penny that you increase the gas tax, you generate $15 million of revenue, so if you went solely with a gas tax, that would be 40 cents, but that won't happen, that's too much," Bracken says. "I think it's going to be a combination of things that will end up being the funding sources. Everybody cringes when they hear a 20 cent increase in the gas tax, but that would cost the average family about $120 a year, so it's not a monumental, knee-buckling expense that people would incur, and for that kind of additional cost every year, we would have an infrastructure that would be maintained at an adequate level for the first time in well over 20 years, and maybe for some expansion of parts of the infrastructure that would help relieve congestion."
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Steve Lubetkin
Steve Lubetkin is the New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com. He is currently filling in covering Chicago and Midwest markets until a new permanent editor is named. He previously filled in covering Atlanta. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. His audio and video work for GlobeSt.com has been honored by the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced audio podcasts on CRE topics for the NAR Commercial Division and the CCIM Institute. Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies. Steve also reports on-camera and covers conferences for NJSpotlight.com, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC. Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996. Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional. You can email Steve at [email protected].
