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Christie kills ARC tunnel....again!

DaTransitMan4608

By DaTransitMan4608,
in New Jersey Transit

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DaTransitMan4608

DaTransitMan4608

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:cry:

Gov. Chris Christie is expected to again terminate the multi-billion dollar Hudson River train tunnel Wednesday, saying that federal officials offered to improve the financing terms but committed no new money, three officials close to the project said today.

 

The governor canceled the project on Oct. 7, but gave it a two-week reprieve after U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood visited Trenton to ask for a grace period to offer more alternatives. The deadline expired Friday, but Christie has pondered the decision for an additional four days.

 

The project, which was to double rail capacity between New Jersey and New York City, was America’s largest public works initiative.

 

Tunnel proponents have accused Christie of scrapping a plan vital to New Jersey's economic future. They also say that all along, he has planned to use some of New Jersey's $2.7 billion share of the project to buttress the state's nearly broke Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for road and bridge repairs and transit services.

 

When he canceled the project in early October, Christie said he feared there would be major overruns. Officials said those fears have not changed.

 

The overruns could range anywhere from $1.1 billion to $5.3 billion, depending on who is giving the estimate.

 

In addition to committing $2.7 billion toward the project when it was expected to come in at $8.7 billion, New Jersey is responsible for all overruns. The federal government and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey each pledged $3 billion for the 9-mile tunnel that was to run between Secaucus and West 34th Street in Manhattan.

 

"It’s all about the money," Christie said during an appearance in Philadelphia last Tuesday.

 

And in the week since then, the federal government has offered nothing that would change Christie’s mind, the sources said.

 

Christie's spokeswoman, Maria Comella, declined comment, and NJ Transit referred questions to the governor's office.

 

Olivia Alair, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C., said she had no new information.

 

Washington transportation planners have been "aggressive" in trying to convince the governor to reinstate the tunnel project and have offered alternate financing and the possibility of scaling back parts of the mammoth trans-Hudson undertaking, the officials said.

 

But Christie has been emphatic that he wants more money from other sources — like the federal government — and, without that, he would have no reason to change his original plan.

 

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) released a statement blasting the governor's decision:

 

"The federal government, at my urging, presented Gov. Christie with a number of financing options that would limit and even eliminate New Jersey's responsibility to pay for cost overruns on the ARC Tunnel. The federal government demonstrated its strong commitment to building this tunnel, but it was clear from the beginning that Gov. Christie planned to kill this project no matter what."

 

 

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/gov_christie_kills_hudson_rive_1.html

 

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::tdown:

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N-Trizzy2609

N-Trizzy2609

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Instant face palm just by looking at the title. Considering what happened yesterday at Penn, he must be smoking crack to ignore that. No more ranting about this. I'm escaping to the Trainz world where I can build the ARC Tunnel for free and no fat hogs will bitch about it. :P

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Shortline Bus

Shortline Bus

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How blind you guys are; he's not stupid, the man is brilliant, he's playing washington to get more money.

 

He stops the tunnel, everyone cries foul, the feds steap up with more money, he puts the tunnel back in gear.

 

Christie Kind of reminds me of former Paterson East Side HS Prinicpal Joe Clark(movie "Lean on Me")

At least even if you don't agree with him, he won't flip flop on issues.

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Grand Concourse

Grand Concourse

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How blind you guys are; he's not stupid, the man is brilliant, he's playing washington to get more money.

 

He stops the tunnel, everyone cries foul, the feds steap up with more money, he puts the tunnel back in gear.

 

As I've said before: would everyone here be saying the same of Corzine if he were to say no to this project? Are the people here too much of railfans that they would rather put their state in a bigger hole [taking money away from cops, teachers, etc], just for this tunnel?

The real question is: what is more important: another tunnel or keeping the rest of the state afloat?

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Tokkemon

Tokkemon

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The real question is: what is more important: another tunnel or keeping the rest of the state afloat?

 

The latter, of course.

 

Imagine the old days when Penn Station and its tunnels were built with not a dime of government funding. Those were the days when things actually got done! Why doesn't the tunnel get put on private contractors/rain companies? Oh wait, because the US Govt. decided that one big company would do it better. Sure.

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Jamaica Express

Jamaica Express

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This is truly a shame. This is going to severly hurt the commuter rail market of NJ...and when the economy picks up and people start finding jobs again the crunch is going to be felt big time in the long run. Im not into politics or the blame game, but the point is that project is dead, which means, now what? So, I guess its time to start discussing alternate ideas to deal with crowding. To start off with a few (simply some of my ideas),some :nec: tains may have to start beginning/ending service in Newark with other :nec: trains bypassing it. This could help even out the loads of the Lower Manhattan and Midtown Markets. During peak hours trains can easily see 600-700 people getting off and transfering to PATH. So being that the same amount or more are going thru to NY, mind as well break them into two trains so things aren't crush loaded. On the :njc:, I see some 3200 series Long Branch trains being combined with 4300 Bay Head shuttle trains in the Peak to make some use of the Dual Mode ALP-45DP's, same with the :mbl:...although it will probably be done to a much more limited extent on the Hoboken Div. The :me: will probably have to become more of a Hoboken oriented line now, which is going to be challenging since Midtown Direct is so significantly faster. That line is definitely going to have to see a dramatic change in the way service is operated in order to make Hoboken attractive (which probably won't happen until Lower Manhattan WTC is finally complete). :mb::pvl: I guess will remain the way they are now, with only 30-40% of NYC bound commuters in these areas using the train (so much for those raising property values) The :rvl: will probably just simply do what its been doing, ending in Newark.

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Forest Glen

Forest Glen

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As I've said before: would everyone here be saying the same of Corzine if he were to say no to this project? Are the people here too much of railfans that they would rather put their state in a bigger hole [taking money away from cops, teachers, etc], just for this tunnel?

The real question is: what is more important: another tunnel or keeping the rest of the state afloat?

 

You're 100% wrong

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Nova RTS 9147

Nova RTS 9147

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The Republicans are destroying America

 

meanwhile, the democrats have single handidly wrecked the entire western world.

 

this entire crisis is the end result of Clinton era policy which lowered the nessisary collateral on home loans. On the face of it, that's a good thing, but the people who took out these loans never had the means to pay the bank back.

 

As I've said before: would everyone here be saying the same of Corzine if he were to say no to this project? Are the people here too much of railfans that they would rather put their state in a bigger hole [taking money away from cops, teachers, etc], just for this tunnel?

The real question is: what is more important: another tunnel or keeping the rest of the state afloat?

 

1. They would if it was Corzine, so lets not go down that demokrat/republikan road (and I spelled the two wrong on purpose for a reason for those interested). They're both equally responsible for the shape this country in. And it's something that goes beyond people who didn't have the means pay off their mortgages.

 

2. You're saying it as if Christie is actually being honest. There was no cost overrun (google it), there was no logical reason to end a project that would bring much needed jobs and income to both states and help improve crumbling infrastructure. So in effect, the money for cops, teachers, ect. has already been taken away just to steal from the federal government for "another tunnel."

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West End

West End

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As tactical as this move might appear to be, the question is whether or not Christie will actually change his mind about the project - even if the federal government provides funding for it. Christie notoriously cut funding to NJ public schools not just because of cost issues but also because of his personal beliefs about regulated school systems (see NJ 2009 gubernatorial debate).

 

Yes, it's an issue of finances but political parties do play a hand in this after all. No one's surprised Christie did this seeing that he's a NJ Republican whereas a NJ Democrat doing the same would commit political suicide.

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Nova RTS 9147

Nova RTS 9147

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You all have a biasied opinion "Rail good, no rail bad". Grand Concourse and I seem to be the only ones with the logic to step outside of the hobby and think like a normal person who doesn't give a frack if the tunnel is built or not.

 

Crying, moaning, name calling and bitching won't get the tunnel built. MONEY gets the tunnel, and it's money New Jersey does NOT have.

 

There is a bigger picture than the simplicity of not having money. It's also not about riding in a shinier tunnel, its about 1. Expanding on infrastructure that desperately needs to be expanded on, 2. Bringing more income into the two states (income that will be desperately needed), 3. Christie simply not wanting to build this and pulling a bullshit reason out of his ass (look it up, there was never a cost overrun. Something you and GC seem to miss completely). 4. This country's refusal to actually expand on basic infrastructure (let alone rail) then wonder why bridges suddenly collapse and why one train can take out an entire corridor.

 

This goes beyond railfans desire to ride an R32 or Alp46 or RAlpwhogivesacrap through ARC. This is a microcosm of our country simply refusing to move forward.

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Tokkemon

Tokkemon

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There is a bigger picture than the simplicity of not having money. It's also not about riding in a shinier tunnel, its about 1. Expanding on infrastructure that desperately needs to be expanded on, 2. Bringing more income into the two states (income that will be desperately needed), 3. Christie simply not wanting to build this and pulling a bullshit reason out of his ass (look it up, there was never a cost overrun. Something you and GC seem to miss completely). 4. This country's refusal to actually expand on basic infrastructure (let alone rail) then wonder why bridges suddenly collapse and why one train can take out an entire corridor.

 

This goes beyond railfans desire to ride an R32 or Alp46 or RAlpwhogivesacrap through ARC. This is a microcosm of our country simply refusing to move forward.

 

Then you pay for it.

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