The Port Authority today agreed, at the request of Gov. Chris Christie, to take part in an overhaul of the Pulaski Skyway and other road projects estimated to cost $1.8 billion. Without public discussion, the agency’s board of commissioners approved a resolution authorizing "participation" in the projects. The skyway, along with the Route 7 Wittpenn Bridge over the Hackensack...
The Pulaski Skyway is in line for a $150 million rehabilitation, according to the state Department of Transportation.The Port Authority today agreed, at the request of Gov. Chris Christie, to take part in an overhaul of the Pulaski Skyway and other road projects estimated to cost $1.8 billion.
Without public discussion, the agency’s board of commissioners approved a resolution authorizing "participation" in the projects.
The skyway, along with the Route 7 Wittpenn Bridge over the Hackensack River and stretches of Route 1&9 in need of improvement, are not owned or operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Even so, the governor called on the bistate agency to spend $1.8 billion on the projects, using money originally set aside for a trans-Hudson commuter rail tunnel that Christie killed over cost concerns.
Using Port Authority money on the road projects essentially shifts the cost from taxpayers to toll payers and Port Authority tenants. Some regional transportation experts said the governor’s request could set a precedent that would make the bistate agency a rainy day fund to bail out the states in tough times.
But Port Authority Chairman David Samson, a Christie appointee sworn in last month, defended the agency’s participation in the projects at a meeting in Manhattan today, insisting they clearly contributed to the agency’s mission of enhancing regional transportation and economic development.
The agency’s executive director, Christopher Ward, said that other than authorizing preliminary staff work, today’s action did not commit Port Authority funds to the projects.
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