TRENTON — The executive director of NJ Transit today said there have been talks about using money allocated for a new multi-billion dollar train commuter tunnel under the Hudson River to instead shore up the state’s nearly broke transportation trust fund. “There have been those discussions, but there have been no decisions,” Jim Weinstein said during testimony before the...
NJ Transit executive director Jim Weinstein, center, in this March 2010 file photo.TRENTON — The executive director of NJ Transit today said there have been talks about using money allocated for a new multi-billion dollar train commuter tunnel under the Hudson River to instead shore up the state’s nearly broke transportation trust fund.
“There have been those discussions, but there have been no decisions,” Jim Weinstein said during testimony before the Assembly Transportation Committee in Trenton.
Gov. Chris Christie on Sept. 10 ordered a 30-day halt on tunnel construction to review the financial viability of the project that was estimated to cost $8.7 billion, but might cost significantly more.
At the end of that 30-day period, the state also hoped to come up with a solution to its beleaguered transportation trust fund, which pays for New Jersey’s road and bridge repairs and transit services. The fund is in danger of running out of money in March, and the governor has been adamant about not raising the gas tax to replenish the fund.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), the Transportation Committee chairman, said it hardly seemed a coincidence that the 30-day periods were ending at the same time.
“They seem to be linking the dates,” he said.
Wisniewski said it would be a colossal mistake to scrap the tunnel project after $600 million had already been committed.
He said that it would be the New Jersey version of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s “Bridge to Nowhere,” calling it the “Tunnel to Nowhere.”
The tunnel linking New Jersey with Manhattan, the largest transit public works project in America, was expected to increase rail capacity between New Jersey and New York from 23 trains per hour during peak periods to 48 trains per hour, carrying 90,000 passengers during the morning peak period, up nearly twice from the 46,000 passengers now.
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• NJ Transit returns $4M from Hudson River tunnel study
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