New Jersey DOT Head: 'The Days of System Expansion Are Long Over'

Larry Higgs reports: "Acting transportation Commissioner Richard Hammer said the days of expanding interstate highways are over as the state focuses on fixing and rehabilitating existing roads and transit infrastructure, and finding funds to do the work." 

Hammer's remarks came during an address to the New Jersey Alliance for Action's annual transportation summit. The key theme of his address: the need to identify a "real, recurring and predictable source of funding for transportation investment." But, like his predecessors, Hammer stopped short of making any solid recommendations.

But still, the following represents a strong statement for a state DOT head: "The days of system expansion in New Jersey are long over, we don't have the funds…" Those words echo similar sentiments from transportation officials in Iowa and Northeast Ohio, who earlier this year spoke of the need to contract the highway system and fix it first, respectively.