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New NY-NJ Tunnel Too Rich For New Jersey's Blood
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Sep 13, 2010
Modified Sep 13, 2010
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published Sep 13, 2010
Modified Sep 13, 2010
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Those NJ Transit fare hikes just aren't paying the bills, and are costing the state an $8.7 billion new railway tunnel that would connect New Jersey and New York. NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein said the state is temporarily halting all work on the "Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel" because it may cost the state an extra $1 billion over its $2.7 billion share. Weinstein said, "We feel pretty strongly that the current cost estimate, which is $8.7 billion, is a number we can achieve. But I’m under clear direction by the governor that this is not going to be a bottomless pit. If we are to go forward, he wants to know the costs and budget are under control."
Work will be suspended for a month, during which NJ Transit will do some number crunching. But NJ.com asks whether or not Jersey folk even need another conduit to infiltrate our fair city. Officials say the tunnel would relieve the flow of 22,000 cars a day between New York and New Jersey, double rail capacity and create 6,000 jobs. But as one NJ.com commenter put it, "You notice New York isn't paying a dime for this tunnel. I wonder how much New York bribed our politicians to get us to fork over our money to subsidize their economy." Actually the New York Port Authority reportedly put $3 billion into the project, but it's okay, we don't like you either.
The project has already been criticized for being poorly planned. The Penn Station extension would not give New Jersey commuters easy access to the east side, and the new station will have to be build so far underground that commuters would have to take a lengthy escalator or an elevator to reach street level. There are also few options for how to raise funds for the state's Transportation Trust Fund besides raising the gas tax, which is just blasphemy.
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new york new jersey tunnel
nj transit
port authority
trans-hudson express tunnel
Jaya Saxena
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