New Jersey Gov. Christie: “Tunnel Vision”?

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s reported plan to repair and update his state’s highways with $1.25 billion of New Jersey’s planned contribution of $2.7 billion to the new ARC (Access to the Region’s  Core) Trans-Hudson Express commuter rail tunnel into New York City is coming under increasing criticism. Critics both inside NJT and elsewhere are calling Christie’s 30-day moratorium on further work on the tunnel “short-sighted and counter-productive.” In a Sept. 30 editorial, “Gov. Christie’s Tunnel Vision,” The New York Times noted that $600 million has already been spent on the project, and stopping it  “makes no sense at all.”

“To continue the project, [the Federal Transit Administration] has promised $3 billion,” The Times noted. “The Port Authority [of New York & New Jersey] is coming up with another $3 billion, about half of which is money normally dedicated to New York State, and New Jersey is supposed to commit at least $2.7 billion in stimulus and turnpike funds. If Gov. Christie pulls out, billions of dollars pledged by the federal government and the Port Authority will go elsewhere, thousands of new construction jobs will be lost, and the region’s economic future could be hobbled. That makes no sense at all, especially for a governor who talks so passionately about the need for economic growth. There will always be repair work [for highways] that needs doing. There will not always be a chance to vastly improve the [rail] transit system—or get the federal government to kick in $3 billion. Gov. Christie should support this project, not undermine it.”