Lautenberg, Menendez cast themselves as savior of the commuter rail, a project they say Christie abandoned; At his own conference, Christie took credit for saving taxpayers billions
TRENTON — After months of feuding since Gov. Chris Christie killed the rail tunnel under the Hudson River, the announcement of a new project today left the Republican governor and the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators scrambling for credit.
U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, who announced the new tunnel, cast themselves as the savior of the commuter, reviving a project they said Christie abandoned. With a new deal that would include more federal funding, Christie took credit for saving New Jersey taxpayers what he said might have been billions in cost overruns on the Access to the Regions Core tunnel he nixed.
The tunnel could be a topic where both sides can claim political victory, said Montclair State University political science professor Brigid Harrison.
"Clearly Menendez and Lautenberg get credit for bringing home the bacon," Harrison said. "It’s a win-win for Christie. He gets national coverage for cancelling the largest taxpayer funded infrastructure project and then walks away without any of the political fallout."
Lautenberg and Menendez said the new Gateway tunnel will create jobs and boost the state’s economy. "Letting our transportation infrastructure in the Northeast remain a rusty relic of a bygone industrial age ... is neither smart economics nor in our national interest nor in the interest of New Jersey," Menendez said. "We have to invest to keep up."
The Gateway tunnel was the work of Menendez and Lautenberg, who heads the Senate committee that oversee Amtrak. After canceling the first project, Christie played no role in the Gateway tunnel — something that wasn’t missed by Lautenberg.
"Since the ARC tunnel was cancelled, New Jersey officials just shrugged their shoulders when asked how we are going to deal with it," he said.
Christie said he is "thrilled" with the new plan, especially since it won’t be New Jersey’s responsibility. He said by canceling the first plan, he forced a better one to emerge.
"Sometimes, to make real change happen, you have to stand up and be counted and make the tough decisions," he said. "If I had been intimidated by all the rhetoric from all the folks who were shooting at us at the time, the taxpayers of New Jersey would be on the hook."
The new tunnel proposal is saving Christie from the potential voter wrath of commuters, Harrison said.
"This is indicative of his status as a master chessman," she said. "The state would have essentially been paying the price of his short term decision for a very, very long time. He got kind of lucky here, but he’s made his own luck."
Critics argued Christie was only cancelling the tunnel to use the ARC money, generated from toll hikes approved by former Gov. Jon Corzine, to fund other New Jersey projects. Ultimately he did just that, moving the funds slated for ARC into the Transportation Trust Fund for road and rail projects.
Christie said he won’t fork over this money to the new project, noting it won’t be immediately needed and admittedly mixing a transportation metaphor: "We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it," he said.
Steve Strunsky contributed to this report.