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The lanes-before-trains mantra has continued in New Jersey, as more money is shifted from transit projects to highway expansion, according to an analysis by a regional transportation policy watchdog group.

While New Jersey still devotes 31 percent of its transportation budget to transit spending — well above the 19.8 percent national average — that number is way down from the nearly 50 percent spent on transit in 2004, representatives of Tri-State Transportation Campaign said.

The 18 percent that New Jersey devotes for new road capacity and bridge capacity expansion is still below the 22.5 percent averaged nationally, but that number is growing as the state continues massive road building projects such as the $2.5 billion New Jersey Turnpike widening project between Exits 6 and 9.

The findings were made today in the report, "Tracking State Transportation Dollars," which looked at transportation spending priorities in all 50 states. The analysis crunched transportation improvement program data and tried to spot trends on spending for transportation construction, new roads, bicycle and pedestrian improvements and transit lines.

Janna Chernetz, New Jersey advocate for Tri-State Transportation Campaign, called the state’s road expansions "unsustainable transportation projects that don’t offer long-term congestion relief."

The transportation group would instead like to see New Jersey spend its money on maintaining existing roads and bridges.

"Fifty percent of our roads are deficient, and more than 200 bridges are structurally deficient," Chernetz said. "We should be spending more money on maintaining our existing infrastructure."

New Jersey Department of Transportation spokesman Joe Dee said the state is focused on keeping its roads and bridges in a state of good repair and has had demonstrable results.

"Our investments in our roads have helped us improve the condition from 47 percent acceptable condition to 53 percent, and that’s just in the last few years," he said.

Between January 2011 and January 2012, Dee said, the number improved from 50 to 53 percent.

He said the evidence points in the opposite direction from Tri-State’s findings.

"In January 2010, we had 328 structurally deficient bridges," Dee said. "As of June 30, just a few weeks ago, we were down to 295."

He said the state was trying to drop the number to 160 by 2021.

Dee also said some projects that Tri-State considers road expansions are safety and operational improvement projects, such as the "Direct Connection" beginning next year to complete a missing link on Interstate 295 in Camden County.

"Right now you have to get off 295 to continue on 295," he said. "This project will correct a situation that has persisted for many years. This area of 295 is in the top 10 in the state in terms of crashes. This project is the poster child for safety and operational improvements. Despite that, Tri-State insists on calling this an expansion project."

Other findings in the analysis:

• New Jersey spends 27 percent on bridge and road maintenance, compared with the national average of 38.5 percent.

• The Garden State devotes 1 percent of its transportation dollars on bicycle/transportation spending, below the 2 percent averaged nationally.

• State transportation departments "tend to do a poor job of clearly explaining how transportation dollars are spent." New Jersey, which looked 10 years ahead ($41.6 billion between 2008-2018), stood out among states for showing a longer time frame for transportation projects.