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PracticableSolution t1_j6mtxxc wrote

Part of the reason it was canceled was because it wasn’t going to cost half as much. It was a notoriously underbaked design.

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Moshua_Jorris t1_j6mvfxf wrote

And NJ / NY would have been responsible for all of the excess costs.

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LikeFrankieSaid t1_j6mwfe7 wrote

I think the reason Christie cancelled it was because NJ was wholly responsible for all the excess costs. I'm not a Christie fan, but to me it was a no-brainer to cancel that project.

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Flashinglights0101 OP t1_j6mxal8 wrote

Dude that is not even the whole picture. New Jersey may have been on the hook for the additional cost but that is because of the infrastructure improvements that were required in New Jersey. Also, by canceling the project, NJ had to pay back the federal government about $600 million for work already completed by the Feds. The deal may not have been the best at the time but it is a whole lot better than today.

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metsurf t1_j6mzfas wrote

No todays deal is better and fully addresses the issues.

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SyndicalistCPA t1_j6nng9r wrote

This project would have been done already, if not soon enough. Now we'll have to wait years for this.

So much better.

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Rude-Bison-2050 t1_j6n6nur wrote

exactly

by holding out there are now fed funds in play

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Sonicfan42069666 t1_j6o41sp wrote

Oh cool, "holding out" only took what, 12 years? An entire fucking generation entirely fucked by Christie's mismanagement. He didn't play ball, he popped the ball and went home.

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STMIHA t1_j6o5mol wrote

It’s beyond that. Why should one project depend on one person to move along. Our whole state is inept. The fact that we don’t have regional transportation decisions makers is a joke.

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ghombie t1_j6pj4lv wrote

What state uses regional transportation makers and to what benefit? It sounds like a dilution of leadership power of the governor based on...??

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Flashinglights0101 OP t1_j6mwsyo wrote

For a project of this size, complexity and scope, it is always going to be underbaked. This project is going to go over budget, full stop. Even if we spent another decade planning, it will still go over budget. But I would rather have a project go over budget with pre-Covid construction costs than have to pay what current costs are. We should be thankful there was not another disaster that could have closed the tunnels.

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Sagacious_Sapien t1_j6nal0j wrote

Most projects are designed with a 10% to 20% contingency; not 200%. The original was ABSOLUTELY half-baked and it should have been canceled since NJ would have been left holding the bag.

Now that the feds are ponying up more, it is not a win in Phil Murphy's column. Had the Federal government stepped up before, you're right, it would have been done by now.

An even better plan would be to invest in a fully integrated mass transit system instead of relying on highways that only have a lifespan of 20 years.

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PracticableSolution t1_j6mygq6 wrote

You take that argument to the NJ and NY statehouses and the taxpayers. Let me know how it works out for you. I’ll wait here

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Flashinglights0101 OP t1_j6n2u52 wrote

NJ & NY agreed to the deal, Christie torpedoed it. Port Authority, Amtrak, Fed government, New Jersey and New York all agreed. Christie came in last minute and walked away. Later on we find out it is because he needed to use the funds to prevent the gas tax.

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PracticableSolution t1_j6n5k85 wrote

He used the funds a few different places including dumping insane cash into the Pulaski Skyway, the wisdom of which, could be a separate and equally galling discussion

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wynnejs t1_j6n5faf wrote

Which ended up being raised anyway

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Stunning_Blueberry_3 t1_j6o1uq5 wrote

Each time my husband made his daily commute to the city and back, whenever it stormed, I was worried about that damn tunnel.

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AlanMercer t1_j6n5vlj wrote

Christie didn't replace the Corzine project with any tunnel development at all. Whatever you think about Corzine's plan, Christie's subsequent action was short-sighted because whatever the budget is, it only goes up as we move forward in time.

Christie in fact strangled the NJT operating budget to the point at which it could no longer run a full schedule of trains. They didn't have enough crew and functioning rolling stock.

The tunnels have to be replaced for the state's economy to continue to prosper. The only thing more expensive than getting it done now is trying to replace it on an emergency basis after something really goes wrong.

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PracticableSolution t1_j6n7rc3 wrote

Completely agree that he single-handedly destroyed NJ Transit. It will take another decade or two before it gets back to where it should be, never mind the havoc at the Turnpike Authority and Port Authority. The man was a destroyer of worlds.

But, he had a solid point on the entire ARC program.

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metsurf t1_j6mz9rp wrote

Under-designed and not funded fully at the federal level. State would have been on the hook for a lot of it. It was going to terminate in the vicinity of the PATH 33rd St station with no definitive plan or funding for the terminus.

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Chose_a_usersname t1_j6o1bp0 wrote

The old it's not perfect so let's do nothing routine

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metsurf t1_j6ph7do wrote

No the it is a fucking disaster so do it right routine.

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Flashinglights0101 OP t1_j6n4ref wrote

Feds were funding $3 billion with a commitment for more. That was about half of the expected cost at the time. Today, Feds are funding double because the overall cost is double which is still half of the total cost. We are basically in the same place, just a decade later.

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metsurf t1_j6n6fp4 wrote

with a better design and more things included though.

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thebruns t1_j6p2ixv wrote

> going to terminate in the vicinity of the PATH 33rd St station

You know thats better than what the current proposal is, which is terminating at 28th and 8th right?

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metsurf t1_j6pgt8o wrote

Sorry but you are wrong 28th and 8th is directly adjacent to Penn Station.

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OttoBaker t1_j6n70d7 wrote

He repeated that ad nauseam, people still parrot that phrase.

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