Gov. Chris Christie is expected to cancel the ARC tunnel project today, claiming the federal government won't take on their share of the increased costs.The Hudson River train tunnel, a dream of many New Jersey commuters, politicians and planners for decades, will die a second death today.
And this time, there will be no reprieve.
Gov. Chris Christie today is expected to again terminate the multi-billion dollar project, arguing that New Jersey cannot afford it and that the federal government is unwilling to increase its share of the costs, four officials close to the project said.
The governor canceled the project Oct. 7, but gave it a two-week grace period after U.S. 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.
As he walked into an event in Indianapolis last night, Christie said, "I’ll make this decision when I believe is the right time to make it. The decision I make will be in the best interest of the taxpayers of the state."
The project, which was to double rail capacity between New Jersey and New York City, was America’s largest public works initiative.
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Tunnel proponents have accused the governor of scrapping a plan vital to New Jersey’s economic future. They also say that all along, he has planned to use some of New Jersey’s $2.7 billion share of the project to buttress the state’s nearly broke Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for road and bridge repairs and transit services.
Tunnel opponents have said the project lacked connectivity to New York Penn Station and the jobs on Manhattan’s prosperous East Side.
When he canceled the project in early October, Christie said he feared there would be major overruns. Officials said those fears have not changed.
The overruns could range anywhere from $1.1 billion to $5.3 billion, depending on who is giving the estimate.
In addition to committing $2.7 billion toward the project when it was expected to come in at $8.7 billion, New Jersey is responsible for all overruns. The federal government and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey each pledged $3 billion for the 9-mile tunnel that was to run between Secaucus and West 34th Street in Manhattan.
"It’s all about the money," Christie said during an appearance in Philadelphia last week.
And in the week since then, the federal government has offered nothing that would change Christie’s mind, said the four sources, who asked not to be named because they are not at liberty to discuss the matter publicly.
Olivia Alair, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C., said she had no new information.
Washington transportation planners have been "aggressive" in trying to convince the governor to reinstate the tunnel project and have offered alternate financing and the possibility of scaling back parts of the mammoth trans-Hudson undertaking, the officials said.
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But Christie has been emphatic that he wants more money from other sources — like the federal government — and, without that, he would have no reason to change his original plan.
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) blasted the governor’s decision:
"The federal government, at my urging, presented Gov. Christie with a number of financing options that would limit and even eliminate New Jersey’s responsibility to pay for cost overruns on the ARC Tunnel," Lautenberg’s statement said. "The federal government demonstrated its strong commitment to building this tunnel, but it was clear from the beginning that Gov. Christie planned to kill this project no matter what."
Lautenberg’s office did not release additional information backing up the senator’s comment.
Christie on Sept. 10 called a 30-day time out to review tunnel cost estimates.
He was prompted to review tunnel costs and initiate the stoppage because the Port Authority was on the brink of issuing a $500 million tunnel boring contract in September.
The Port Authority also was scheduled to initiate eminent domain proceedings in New York that would have been irreversible.
That set the cascading developments in motion.
By Josh Margolin and Mike Frassinelli / The Star-Ledger
Staff writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.