Posted on 10/07/2010 1:19:29 PM PDT by WebFocus
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Thursday canceled construction of a commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River to New York City because the project could run billions of dollars over budget.
The Republican governor, in a statement, said the final budget is expected to top $11 billion and could exceed $14 billion, compared to a current budget of $8.7 billion.
Using the formal name for the project, one of the biggest in the United States, Christie said: "The Access to the Region's Core project is just not a financially viable project that we can responsibly move forward."
The ARC tunnel would have been the first rail tunnel to be dug under the river in a century and transit advocates say it is desperately needed. Existing rail tunnels are so overcrowded that people who commute from New Jersey to midtown Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station and back.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
See also here :
EXCERPT
NJ gov. scraps long-planned NJ-NY rail tunnel
By ANGELA DELLI SANTI (AP)
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday killed a decades-in-the-making train tunnel connecting New Jersey and Manhattan, saying the state can’t afford to pay for cost overruns on the already under-construction project.
More than a half-billion dollars has already been spent on the tunnel and construction began last year. The largest federal transportation project in the country, it was expected to double train traffic in and out of New York City during peak commute times once completed in 2018.
But over the years, the cost for the tunnel also has nearly doubled.
It started at $5 billion in 2005 and grew to $8.7 billion by 2008. In recent months, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff has made public statements that put the price tag between $9 billion and $10 billion.
At a news conference Thursday, Christie said: “I can’t put taxpayers on a never-ending hook.”
New Jersey had committed $2.7 billion to the tunnel. The federal government and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had each pledged $3 billion.
A month ago, the Republican governor ordered a 30-day halt to all work on the tunnel over concerns that it would go over budget.
The project had been in the works for about 20 years. Currently, NJ Transit and Amtrak share a century-old two-track tunnel beneath the Hudson River. The new tunnel would add two more tracks, more than doubling the number of NJ Transit trains that could pass under the river.
Christie’s predecessor, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, broke ground on the tunnel in June 2009, a few months before the gubernatorial election that he lost to Christie.
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Maybe if they put solar panels on the roofs of the train cars, it’d all work out and be cost effective.
Oh come Governor, what's a 25% to 60% cost over run?
“Maybe if they put solar panels on the roofs of the train cars, it’d all work out and be cost effective.”
Or little windmills on top of the train cars to generate wind power.
This should be the direction where the Federal Government goes when Conservatives gain enough seats. Cancellation of contracts that paid off Unions, certain constituencies, etc., AND, a total overhaul and house-cleaning of Federal Employees, Pensions, and staffs.
New York will probably be blown up one day (Obama said we should expect some terror) so why bother with a tunnel to a wasteland! Good move, Governor.
I can just hear the union leeches screaming about how many jobs would have been “created” under this boondogle.
LOVE a man with balls. “Don’t go all wobbly.” Thanks Lady M.
Construction prices have dropped like a rock since 2008. We’re getting bids in substantially lower than engineer’s estimates because contractors want the jobs, even if they only break even. And engineering prices have remained steady. So why are their construction costs increasing?
But, I’m hoping the same thing will happen with some infrastructure projects (light rail, wekiva toll road) here in Florida!
Princeton Professor, Paul Krugman has attacked New Jersey Governor Chris Christie over his plans to cut the second rail tunnel to New York, for both public and private reasons.
Krugman calls the decision the worst ever made in New Jersey government history on his blog.
It is the sort of cut the economy can’t take right now, Krugman says, suggesting we should be ramping up infrastructure spending to fill the employment gap right now.
The tunnel is budgeted to cost $8.7 billion and is supported by $3 billion in funding from both the Port Authority and federal government, according to the New York Times. That leaves New Jersey footing $2.7 billion.
But if Christie does decide to end the project, the state will lose those federal funds, and 6,000 jobs.
Krugman has a personal stake in this fight though, as he says on his blog, “And yes, if anyone should mention it, I am a resident of New Jersey who often visits Manhattan, and therefore has a personal stake in this project. You got a problem with that?”
See here :
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/
Princeton Professor, Paul Krugman has attacked New Jersey Governor Chris Christie over his plans to cut the second rail tunnel to New York, for both public and private reasons.
Krugman calls the decision the worst ever made in New Jersey government history on his blog.
It is the sort of cut the economy can’t take right now, Krugman says, suggesting we should be ramping up infrastructure spending to fill the employment gap right now.
The tunnel is budgeted to cost $8.7 billion and is supported by $3 billion in funding from both the Port Authority and federal government, according to the New York Times. That leaves New Jersey footing $2.7 billion.
But if Christie does decide to end the project, the state will lose those federal funds, and 6,000 jobs.
Krugman has a personal stake in this fight though, as he says on his blog, “And yes, if anyone should mention it, I am a resident of New Jersey who often visits Manhattan, and therefore has a personal stake in this project. You got a problem with that?”
See here :
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/
Quick! somebody put Willie Green on a suicide watch.
Spend $8,000,000,000 of other people's money, so Paul Krugman is not inconvenienced by crowded trains.
What a colossal jackass he is.
I love it when a wimpy little punk-ass tries to be macho. It's so funny. Yeah, I gotta problem with that, punk. You want everybody else to pay for your ride. Well, you want it, you pay for it, wise-ass.
I am delighted that the Governor put the kibosh on Big Dig II.
One other problem...NJ puts in 2.7...feds put in 3.0 and the Port Authority puts in the remainder...that would mean the State of NY or NYC puts in nil....the Port of New York Authority is a BI STATE agency.
This will end up being the big dig on steroids if it goes through as planned.
As I recall, the original tunnel was privately built by the Pennsylvania Railroad to respond to an actual market demand. Any idea how much that tunnel cost?
The original tunnel was built by the hudson and manhattan railroad before the turn of the last Century so how much it cost is not relavent. The new design is much different also as it must pass under subway lines built in NYC after the original transit tunnel was built.
True,only today’s cost for any project are relevant;and even if $500 million has been spent;sometimes it is best to just “stop digging yourself in a hole”!
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