Complex Design, Political Disputes Send World Trade Center Rail Hub's Cost Soaring

Wall Street Journal ^ | September 3, 2014 | Eliot Brown

[C19fan]

The most expensive train station in the U.S. is taking shape at the site of the former World Trade Center, a majestic marble-and-steel commuter hub that was seen by project boosters as a landmark to American hope and resilience.

Instead, the terminal connecting New Jersey with downtown Manhattan has turned into a public-works embarrassment. Overtaking the project's emotional resonance is a practical question: How could such a high-profile project fall eight years behind schedule and at least $2 billion over budget?

[C19fan]

I was in Lower Manhattan a few weeks ago and saw the Calatrava design. It reminded me of a stegosaurus or one of those wacky animals from the Cambrian Explosion. It seems any major project Calatrava is involved in is a disaster of costs overruns and delays. The guy puts design over function and practicality. There was a NPR piece on him about how his projects have bankrupted Spanish cities and how his buildings are money pits on maintenance. Combine that with the corruption and dysfunction of the Port Authority and NYC/NY state/NJ governments and you get this result.

[GQuagmire]

Democrats and public works projects don’t mix. Big Dig in Boston as an example

[driftdiver]

Compare this project, the Big Dig, or the bridge in CA to the Hoover Dam or other projects of that era.

[hal ogen]

Many public works projects are merely transfers of public money to corrupt unions and chums of the pols who are involved in various stages of the projects. These criminal parasites revel in wasting other peoples’ money and are pretty good at explaining-away their criminality.

[Louis Foxwell]

Precisely. These projects are designed to fail. Who, precisely, is surprised?

[B4Ranch]

These are the same people who are building a fast train out in California.

[dickmc]

See the tabulation in the Cato Institute's Government Schemes Cost More than Promised for some enlightening info.