$1.6M Grant To Repair Dunhams Corner Road In East Brunswick

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — The Townships of East Brunswick and South Brunswick will benefit from President Joe Biden's $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill.

The Township will get $1,600,091 for the reconstruction of Dunhams Corner Road, which borders East and South Brunswick. The announcement was made last week by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), when the bill passed Congress.

The funds will be used to reconstruct the concrete road including installing drainage systems. The road, which is over 40 years old, lacks proper drainage and is in need of repair.

Under guidelines issued by the Appropriations Committee, each Representative may request funding for up to 10 projects in their community for the fiscal year 2022 — although only a handful may actually be funded.

During Monday’s Council meeting Mayor Brad Cohen informed the community about the grant. Due to the difficult and complicated nature of the work, the Township had put the project on the back burner for some time, Cohen said.

“But we did apply and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman put it in the infrastructure bill,” Cohen said. “It adds to the multiple numbers of grants that the township is a beneficiary of.”

Over the last five to six years, East Brunswick has received nearly $22 million in grants.

These grants are also significant as they fund projects that would otherwise have to be paid for through property taxes, Cohen said.

The Dunhams Road project will be done in conjunction with the work scheduled for the path between Crystal Springs and the Community Arts Center, the Mayor said.

Biden signed the bill, which provides a substantial increase in spending for domestic and national security but also sends $13.6 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine in its defense against the Russian invasion. Around $178 million will come to New Jersey for local projects in every county. Read More: What $178 Million In Federal Money Will Do In New Jersey

The sprawling 2,741-page omnibus bill — the first major federal spending package of Biden's administration — also funds the government through Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year, and averted a partial government shutdown that would've occurred at midnight Friday.

The spending bill passed both chambers of the Senate along party lines.

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