Governor says that there will be neither an increase in gasoline tax nor toll hikes as part of a plan that gets mixed reviews Watch video
TRENTON — The Pulaski Skyway and the Route 7 bridge don’t have the same magic ring as the notion of boring a grand tunnel to Manhattan, but the governor argued Thursday they were the best place for New Jersey’s transportation dollars.
Gov. Chris Christie said he plans to redirect money from the Hudson River train tunnel he terminated 10 weeks ago to help shore up the nearly broke trust fund that pays for New Jersey’s road and bridge repairs.
Turning aside pleas that he find the money by raising New Jersey’s low gas tax, Christie unveiled an $8 billion, five-year transportation capital projects plan, which calls for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to pick up about $1.8 billion in costs.
Among the Garden State projects the Port Authority will take on are the renovation of the Pulaski Skyway — New Jersey’s most famous and decrepit bridge — and the Route 7 Wittpenn Bridge in Kearny.
The governor said there would be no toll hikes as part of the plan.
Standing next to enlarged photos of the crumbling Route 46 bridge in Dover and Route 21 bridge in Newark, Christie said, "That kind of condition of roadways in the state of New Jersey is dangerous and is unacceptable."
The plan takes on $3.6 billion in new debt, but makes the transportation fund less reliant on borrowing than in previous years.
Christie said past transportation plans relied almost exclusively on debt and required enormous balloon payments at the end of the 30-year bond cycle.
"It was irresponsible and it was done for one simple reason: Because people were unwilling to stand up to the plate and do what needed to be done to make difficult decisions, to make a system work and be responsible fiscally," he said during a news conference in Trenton.
Critics said the governor’s plan relies on the thing he campaigned against — more debt — and a one-shot gimmick to divert money from the canceled Access to the Region’s Core commuter rail tunnel.
"I thought debt was a dirty word to Republicans," noted Sen. President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester).
"The governor doesn’t just kick the can down the road — he punts it there," added Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), who chairs the Assembly Transportation Committee.
Wisniewski said New Jersey Turnpike toll hikes set for next January were predicated on the money going toward the Hudson River train tunnel, known as ARC, which was to double rail capacity to New York City. Christie scrapped the Secaucus-to-Manhattan tunnel in October, saying it was expected to go over budget by billions of dollars.
"The ARC tunnel project was supposed to be a lifeline for the region’s rail network," Wisniewski said. "Now, Gov. Christie is using the project’s funding as a lifeline to keep his national conservative credentials intact."
"Until we’re willing to really come up with a comprehensive solution, we’re just going be stuck in traffic, going nowhere, while our roads are crumbling," Jeff Tittel, N.J. Sierra Club director, said outside the governor’s news conference. "These are, at best, a Band-Aid."
The costs for the $8.7 billion ARC tunnel were to be split three ways, with the Port Authority and federal government each chipping in $3 billion and New Jersey paying $2.7 billion, part of which included $1.25 billion from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
Christie again reiterated his aversion to increasing New Jersey’s 10.5 cent per gallon gas tax, America’s third-lowest behind Georgia and Alaska.
"With rising gas prices right before us, the idea of raising taxes in this economy is something that this administration simply will not do under any circumstances," he said.
The transportation fund was set to run out of money early this year.
In addition to the Wittpenn Bridge and the Pulaski Skyway — an engineering marvel in 1932 that has fallen into disrepair — New Jersey projects that the Port Authority will salvage include work on Route 139 and a proposed roadway connecting St. Paul’s Avenue along the CSX railroad crossing over New County Road and ending at Secaucus Road in Jersey City.
The plan also includes $672 million for NJ Transit and $200 million a year for local projects through the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
Christie touted the jobs the projects will create.
"The governor’s plan to fund our state’s transportation capital plan for the next five years is a positive step," said Raymond M. Pocino, vice president and eastern regional manager for the Laborers’ International Union of North America, representing more than 40,000 construction workers in New Jersey, New York City, Long Island and Delaware. "At a time when New Jersey needs to grow its economy and create jobs, the state has made a commitment to invest in its infrastructure."
Sal Risalvato, executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline, Convenience, Automotive Association, said the governor was justified in allocating unspent ARC tunnel dollars to pay for transportation projects.
"The simple fact is that those dollars would be better spent on projects that the majority of New Jersey residents make use of — namely our infrastructure and roadways," Risalvato said. "We are a state of commuters."
Others gave the Christie plan mixed reviews.
"The proposal presented by the governor (Thursday) begins to head in the right direction," New Jersey Future executive director Peter Kasabach said. "It addresses the immediate need to replenish the Trust Fund, moves away from excessive reliance on debt and back toward the ‘pay-as-you-go’ model on which the fund was founded. ... This is not, however, a sustainable solution to the Trust Fund."
By Mike Frassinelli and Ginger Gibson/The Star-Ledger