JANUARY 7, 2016 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2016, 6:48 AM
BY PAUL BERGER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
When Governor Christie, citing potential cost overruns, scuttled an $8.9 billion tunnel project in 2010, he set in motion a string of moves by local, state and federal officials that have resulted in a proposal for a much larger, federally driven project to build new rail tunnels under the Hudson River that by some estimates could cost $20 billion.
Planning for the new tunnels, dubbed Gateway, is expected to ramp up this year as the Port Authority takes the reins of what could be the largest public works project in the nation. And it joins new efforts – such as one announced Wednesday by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to spend $3 billion to overhaul New York Penn Station — to rebuild crumbling infrastructure in the region.
Like its predecessor, Gateway plans to deliver rail tunnels that would double the train capacity into New York City. And Gateway, like the canceled Access to the Region’s Core project, also envisions a new set of tracks that bypass Secaucus Junction, creating a one-seat ride from North Jersey into Manhattan.
But Gateway is a much broader project that also includes critical repairs to the existing train tunnels, upgrades and replacements of several bridges along Amtrak’s heavily traveled Northeast Corridor line, and miles of additional tracks between Newark and New York City.
With any luck, it should be completed in the next 20 years.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/new-hudson-rail-tunnel-project-would-dwarf-initial-plan-1.1486094
Never fails. It looks like the result will be even more spending than what Christie was afraid of. Never underestimate the ability of the government (particularly Democratic government) to spend boatloads — in this case trainloads — of money