FEMA Oks $5.75M to Repair Lighthouse, Middletown Bridge

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The federal government has approved $5.75 million in funding to repair serious Superstorm Sandy damage to the Bray Avenue Bridge in Middletown and the Romer Shoal Lighthouse off Sandy Hook, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-6) announced Monday.
The Bray Avenue Bridge, which was originally denied significant funding, will be replaced, and repairs will be made to Romer Shoal Lighthouse, Pallone said.
“The closure of Bray Avenue Bridge for over two years now has greatly inconvenienced Middletown residents and commuters,” said Congressman Pallone in a written statement. “I am glad that FEMA has finally recognized the need to make these investments so that our community can continue to rebuild and get back to normal.”
An initial $2 million in federal funding will go to Monmouth County Public Works to replace the Bray Avenue Bridge in Middletown, NJ.  The Bray Avenue Bridge has been closed since Superstorm Sandy hit and post-Sandy investigations revealed that, due to damage from the storm, the bridge was no longer safe for traffic.  Monmouth County applied to FEMA for funding assistance to repair the bridge, but were denied any significant funding.
Congressman Pallone wrote to to FEMA Regional Administrator Jerome Hatfield in April of last year urging the agency to revisit the funding request so that the bridge could be re-opened, his office said.
The second allocation provides $3.7 million in federal funding to make repairs to the Romer Shoal Lighthouse, which got hit hard during Sandy.
The lighthouse sits three nautical miles north of Sandy Hook, New Jersey and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.