The Sussex County division of planning told commissioners on May 28 that it is preparing three transportation grant applications, including a request for $868,400 from the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) fiscal year 2026 low local concept development program to fund a planning-level study of rehabilitation and replacement options for the River Sticks Bridge, which the county said is 65 years old and spans 598 feet.

Division staff also said the county will seek two discretionary state grants totaling $33,000,000 to replace obsolete guide-rail systems along the full 31-mile length of County Route 517, from the Warren County line to the New York State line.

The presentation noted that the federal NJTPA grant is highly competitive while the state grants are discretionary and subject to available funding. County staff said the bridge was originally designed for roughly a 75-year service life, and that planning work is needed to evaluate rehabilitation versus replacement options. The division encouraged public input at a final public workshop on the Sussex County Local Safety Action Plan scheduled for June 3 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the commissioners room.

Commissioners were told the grant applications will be considered for approval at the commissioners meeting on June 11, 2025. The division also reported it is finalizing a cross-acceptance report summarizing county and municipal review comments on the State Development and Redevelopment Plan; that draft will be presented to the county planning board on June 2.

If awarded, the planning-level grant would fund engineering and alternatives analysis for the county's longest bridge and inform design and budget needs; the $33 million guide-rail requests would fund replacement of guardrail systems over the full Route 517 corridor pending discretionary award decisions.