§ 27:5G-6 — Findings, declarations

The Legislature finds and declares that: a. Many of the hundreds of bridges carrying highways over railroads in the State are in need of repair, rehabilitation, or replacement. b. The timely maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement of many of these bridges is hampered by the fact that no public or private entity accepts responsibility for them. c. The provisions of chapter 12 of Title 48 of the Revised Statutes have proven inadequate to ensure that each highway bridge crossing a railroad is under the jurisdiction of an agency which is ready, willing, and able to assume responsibility for the maintenance and, where necessary, the rehabilitation or replacement of the bridge. d. The State should, as funds become available, continue to devote resources to the rehabilitation and replacement of these bridges, including bridges carrying local roads. e. The State should establish a mechanism by which each bridge which is to be rehabilitated or replaced or which is determined to be in a state of good repair can be assigned to the jurisdiction of a public entity. L. 1988, c. 171, s. 2.