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Posted on 12/31/2017 4:05:18 AM PST by SMGFan
An Obama-era plan to have the federal government finance half of a $13 billion rail tunnel project ran into a red light Friday from the Trump administration.
The plan, proposed under President Barack Obama in 2015, includes revitalizing a deteriorating Amtrak tunnel connecting New Jersey to New York City, repairing damage to a dual-tunnel conduit, and reconstructing the New Jersey railroad network’s aging Portal Bridge, Crain’s New York Business reported. Amtrak, which owns most of the rail tunnels and tracks between Boston and Washington, D.C., contends that the existing tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York City is damaged and could fail within 10 to 15 years, threatening daily rail transportation in the Northeast.
The original Obama-era plan called for costs to be split among New York state, New Jersey and the federal government.
But in a letter Friday, the Trump administration notified New York and New Jersey that the Obama-era deal was now "non-existent" because the states recently requested that their portions be covered by loans from the federal government -- meaning Washington would supply all of the initial funding for what the Trump White House is calling "a local project."
"Your letter also references a non-existent '50/50' agreement between USDOT, New York, and New Jersey. There is no such agreement," wrote K. Jane Williams, deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. "We consider it unhelpful to reference a non-existent 'agreement' rather than directly address the responsibility for funding a local project where nine out of 10 passengers are local transit riders."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Make the blue states pay for their own transportation boondoggles.
This whole project was strange from the start; proponents were reduced to whining that the extra tunnels may be necessary so people could see Broadway shows (when it became clear they weren’t necessary to deal with commuters).
This is just government makework in two of the states with the worst economies; with the exception of a few small enclaves, NY and NJ are economically destroyed.
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#AllRoadsLeadToChicago
They have their cake but can’t eat it. Antagonizing Trump with sanctuary cities and global warming criticism taken abroad and political attacks from senators and governors of these big needy blue states is going to hurt their state.
Classic example of “you screw with the bull...you get the horns”.
Build a wall instead.....bill the wall. NOW!!!
"...big needy blue states..."
All drug roads lead to Chicago. It is the drug distribution center of America. Why so many shootings in Chicago? It’s the drugs baby, it’s the drugs.
As a Western NY native ...
please, PLEASE partition our state!
As a long time commuter to NYC, I can state unequivocally that this tunnel is much needed. But it has to go hand in hand with the expansion of Penn Station. Increasing capacity with the tunnel doesn’t make sense if the station remains at its current max.
The best thing Gov Christie did was cancel the tunnel to nowhere that NJ alone was going to pay for. I’m hoping the Trump administration’s response will force a formal and real plan for rail expansion.
And even though I’m directly impacted, being behind liberal lines, I do appreciate Trump undermining his enemies.
I wish we had built a wall along the Hudson River 35 years ago to keep the liberal Nooyawkas from moving to New Jersey once they fouled their own nest.
Barack Obama pretending to be George Hudson.
Which have the lion's share of the number of multimillionaires.
Private industry bidded out...repair only. No union only no bid crony crap. That’s why Trump stopped it.
The “High Speed” (avg 35 mph) rail line from Chicago to Minneapolis was killed years ago when folks found out that it would be faster to drive ...
All the money they blow maintaining sanctuary status supporting illegals and benefits scammers could instead be used to pay for their tunnel.
Considering that both the Milwaukee Road and the Chicago & North Western were able to run Chicago-Twin Cities trains averaging just over 60 mph in the 1950's, the term "High Speed" loses some of its lustre.
Tell them we are building a high speed rail from the West Coast to the East Coast (along our southern border) and you just may finally get support from the Left for building that high border wall.
“Your letter also references a non-existent ‘50/50’ agreement between USDOT, New York, and New Jersey. There is no such agreement,” wrote K. Jane Williams, deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration.
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How can there be a 50/50 agreement between three parties anyway?
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