Christie Cancels Commuter Rail Project
Business Week reports:
Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ended the largest U.S. mass-transportation project, saying the state couldn’t afford a commuter-rail tunnel under the Hudson River to New York.
Christie, 48, a first-term Republican, halted work Oct. 7, citing concern that the initial $8.7 billion price might rise by as much as $5 billion. A day later, at U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s request, he agreed to a two-week review of ways to save the project.
The federal government and Port Authority of New York & New Jersey were each scheduled to pay $3 billion for the 8.8-mile (14-kilometer) Access to the Region’s Core tunnel, while New Jersey was slated to cover the remaining $2.7 billion. Christie said the arrangement exposed his state’s taxpayers to the cost of any overruns.
“Despite intense negotiations with federal and state participants, no agreement was reached on terms that would assure New Jersey’s taxpayers would not pay more than the $2.7 billion for a completed” ARC project, Christie’s office said today in a press release.