I.e., the "ARC" ("Access to Region's Core" ) tunnel (for rail) that was being partially funded by the feds to take some of the traffic load off the existing train transit systems (and subsequent car traffic on the bridges) in and out of the NYC/NJ corridor.
Commuting has gotten worse since Christie killed ARC 10 years ago. Will Gateway move forward?
Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
John Porcari remembers feeling stunned a decade ago when then-Gov. Chris Christie warnedU.S. Department of Transportation officials he would be canceling a plan to build new rail tunnels under the Hudson River. "This was not some planning project or perspective project; it was under construction," said Porcari, who was deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Transportation from 2009 to 2014. "So to essentially abandon a project under construction and waste a substantial amount of taxpayers' money in the process — yes, I was incredulous."
The $8.7 billion ARC plan, known as Access to the Region's Core, would have built two new tunnels to an expanded New York Penn Station and had already received partial federal funding to begin early work and engineering, with a full federal funding agreement expected to be completed in 2010. Federal funds would have paid for about half of the project's costs, with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey throwing in $3 billion and state money from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority helping to cover the rest.
Construction was expected to be completed in 2018. But Christie canceled the project on Oct. 27, 2010, citing potential cost overruns that would have unfairly fallen hardest on New Jersey taxpayers, he said. Just six months before, Christie voiced his support for the project in a letter to then-U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. A decade later, commuters are paying the price for the dead project with signs of the tunnels' wear and tear cropping up — in more frequent outages that trap hundreds of thousands of commuters on trains or in the midtown terminal that is more than three times too small for the number of people traveling in and out of New York City.
(snip)
The real issue behind ARC's early demise, according to Porcari, local news reports and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, was the governor's interest in diverting funds for other projects without raising the gas tax or raiding the state Transportation Trust Fund. A scheme concocted between the Christie administration and the Port Authority spent about $2 billion set aside for ARC on state road projects, including the Pulaski Skyway. The misuse of the money was uncovered by The Record in 2014 and resulted in a $400,000 settlement with the SEC because bondholders were not warned about the dubious financing plan. Another $95 million had to be paid back to the U.S. Department of Transportation and $130 million of federal funds had to be used on projects approved by the department.
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/transportation/2020/10/29/10-years-since-arc-demise-eyes-gateway-fate-post-election/3745617001/
And because of the contracts involved and agreement for that federal funding, the state of NJ had to repay some of the fronted funding after they broke the agreement, as noted above and below (although there was a settlement for less than what would have been owed) -
News
Chris Christie Caves, Jersey Will Repay Federal Tunnel Funds
By Garth Johnston
Sept. 30, 2011 5:54 p.m.
• Updated: Sept. 30, 2011 6:18 p.m.
• 14 Comments
Chris Christie is flip flopping left and right this week. Not only is he seemingly reconsidering his definitive statements against running for President but today he also has capitulated to the US Department of Transportation. Though earlier this year he was adamant that New Jersey would not be paying back the federal government any of the funds it had taken for the Trans-Hudson ARC tunnel he nixed (citing its high cost), today he agreed to pay back $95 million of the $271 million in federal dollars spent by the state on the project (in addition to agreeing to spending some of the funds it received on USDOT-approved projects).
Here's how the USDOT describes the settlement:
The $95 million settlement will permit DOT to recover all of the $51 million in New Starts money provided to New Jersey for the ARC Project, so that those funds can be made available to other communities for public transit projects. This amount also recovers approximately 50 percent of the funds provided to New Jersey under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and this money will be returned to the United States Treasury. In addition to the cash payment amount, New Jersey will be required under the terms of the settlement agreement to spend more than $128 million in CMAQ program funds on transit-related projects that have been reviewed and approved by DOT.
So in the end it looks like New Jersey is going to get to walk away with about $48 million in federal funds from the project. Of course the really sad part about all of this is that the settlement comes just as commuters are finding out just how much we desperately need a new rail link between our two states. Need we remind you about the stuck trains and signal problems that have been plaguing NJTranist and Amtrak's current tunnel? Could we maybe get that other tunnel now? Or that 7 extension into Jersey?
https://gothamist.com/news/chris-christie-caves-jersey-will-repay-federal-tunnel-funds
= new reply since forum marked as read
