HUDSON COUNTY AND BEYOND – Gov. Christopher Christie is expected today to announce he is terminating the $8.7 billion dollar Trans-Hudson Tunnel, according to published reports.
Ending the nation’s largest public works project, because he is concerned cost overruns will leave New Jersey taxpayers on the hook for billions more than the $2.7 billion already committed through NJ Transit, also means the end of 6,000 construction jobs, an estimated 40,000 permanent jobs when the tunnel is completed, and hopes of New Jersey commuters for double the train service into New York City.
Christie argues that New Jersey cannot afford the project’s estimated cost overruns and that the federal government is unwilling to pay more for the project, a view disputed by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), who says the feds have offered a new financing plan that would reduce or eliminate the state’s financial risk of paying for cost overruns.
Critics of the governor’s decision, according to reports, charge he has planned all along to kill the project and use some of the $2.7 billion state commitment to finance the state’s nearly broke Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for road and bridge repairs and transit services.
Those critics also point out that the tunnel, also known as the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC), is crucial to New Jersey’s future economic vitality and that halting the project will inhibit future growth.
Cost overruns on the project, to which the Port Authority of New York and federal government have each pledged $3 billion, have been predicted to range anywhere from $1.1 to $5.3 billion, and at present New Jersey is responsible for those increased costs.