TRENTON-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie put the final nail in the ARC Tunnel coffin today, with his announcement that the project would be terminated. The tunnel, which was to double rail capacity between New Jersey and New York City, was America’s largest public works initiative.
The ARC Tunnel project was originally estimated to cost $8.7 billion, with the federal government and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey each pitching in $3 billion toward the total. New Jersey would have been responsible for the remaining $2.7 billion and any cost overruns, which could range from $1.1 billion to $5.3 billion, depending on who is providing the data.
The governor first canceled the project on October 7, but he gave it a two-week grace period after US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood visited Trenton the next day to ask for more time to offer alternatives. That deadline expired Friday, but Christie has pondered the decision an additional five days.
Tunnel proponents have accused the governor of scrapping a plan vital to New Jersey’s economic future, while opponents have said the project lacked connectivity to New York Penn Station and the jobs on Manhattan’s East Side.
The cancellation of the project could allow New Jersey to use some of the $2.7 billion allocated toward the tunnel to bolster the state’s nearly broke Transportation Trust Fund, which many Democrats argue could be replenished by implementing a gas tax increase rather than scrapping infrastructure improvements.
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