Next NY/NJ tunnel idea: Extend No. 7

Rising from years of low-level, behind-the-scenes discussion, a proposal to extend MTA New York City Transit’s No. 7 subway line under the Hudson River into Secaucus, N.J., gained public attention late Tuesday, with supporters, critics, and observers immediately piling on.

The proposal would extend the No. 7, already being extended from Times Square to West 34th Street and 11th Avenue in Manhattan, under the Hudson River to connect with New Jersey Transit’s Secaucus Junction, located on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC). The extension, if realized, would make MTA NYCT a bistate operation for the first time, and offer NEC riders (NJ Transit customers and, presumably, Amtrak patrons) access to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Grand Central Terminal.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was instrumental in canceling the proposed $8.7 billion Access to the Region’s Core project, signaled cautious interest. “We’ve been open to ideas for solving the trans-Hudson dilemma, ideas that are affordable and fair amongst the interested jurisdictions,” said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for Mr. Christie. The federal Department of Transportation has advised New Jersey to repay $271 million in federal funds committed to the ARC project. 

“Extending the 7 line to New Jersey could address many of the region’s transportation capacity issues at a fraction of the original tunnel’s cost, but the idea is still in its earliest stages,” cautioned Andrew Brent, a spokesman for the deputy mayor for economic development, Robert K. Steel. “Like others, we’re looking at — and open to discussing — any creative, fiscally responsible alternatives.”

Still, some said New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg could support the proposal, including with scarce city capital dollars, in part because the extension would expand direct access for New Jerseyans to the Hudson River Development Corp.’s project on Manhattan’s West Side, a pet project of the mayor’s. Also a potential beneficiary: an $800 million subway station at 10th Avenue and 42nd Street, an area enjoying substantial residential growth station that was part of the Bloomberg administration’s plan for the No. 7 extension, but was cut to trim costs.

The New York Times reports that Stephen M. Ross, chief executive of Related Companies and the developer for the Hudson Yards project, spoke to DOT Secretary Ray LaHood enthusiastically about the idea of running the No. 7 to New Jersey. “I think it’s a great idea and it could save a ton of money,” Mr. Ross said Tuesday, according to the Times.

A spokesman for New York Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo said that the proposal had recently been circulated to the governor-elect’s transition team but that there had been no high-level discussions so far. Current New York Gov. David Paterson reportedly is “intrigued” by the plan.

New York City officials, backed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), had hoped that they could tap some of the the $3 billion pledged by the federal government toward ARC to support the city’s Second Avenue Subway project, also under way, but numerous sources tell Railway Age that DOT, Federal Railroad Administration officials, and others have stressed such a transfer was not possible legally and, in any case, was fraught with political baggage, exacerbated by the spat over ARC, seen as a contest of political will between Gov. Christie and the Obama Administration.

New York metropolitan passenger rail advocates, including some within the rail supplier community, note the No. 7 extension does have several engineering and physical advantages, despite the potential bistate political hurdles such a project might face. For one thing, the publicized estimated cost of the project, pegged at about $6 billion, could be accurate. One source told Railway Age, “Using typical tunnel boring machine metrics, a two-tube tunnel under the Hudson [River] should cost in the $6 billion range.” 

Other perceived benefits include potential fiscal commitments from New York State and New York City—commitments conspicuously lacking for the ARC project—significant crosstown access to major transit nodes and virtually all city subway lines, and the potential to alleviate crowding conditions for passengers (if not trains) at New York’s Penn Station, which a No. 7 extension would bypass.