Schumer: Decision To Bury Trans-Hudson Tunnel Project "Shortsighted"

[WayneNYC]

Schumer makes a good point.  This is a project that would provide sorely needed additional capacity between NYC and New Jersey.   I think NJ should've done more to find a way to raise their portion of the funds.  If they (New Jersey) have truly looked at all of the options, then I understand their position.


http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/132400/schumer--decision-to-bury-trans-hudson-tunnel-project--shortsighted-

Senator Charles Schumer blasted New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Tuesday for what he called one of most shortsighted decisions in the region's history.

The criticism comes several months after Christie pulled the plug on a huge project that would have eased overcrowding at Penn Station by creating a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, known as the ARC project, or Access to the Region's Core.
Schumer made the remarks while giving an address at a breakfast hosted by Crain's New York Business where he argued that to create long-term economic growth, the region must invest in transportation infrastructure. Pulling the plug on the $9 billion project, he said, was also a colossal mistake.
"I believe pulling the plug on ARC was a terrible, terrible decision," Schumer said. "The decision to end it is one of the most short-sighted in New York's history. Historians will look back at this decision -- to put a stop to the largest transit project in the country -- as a negative turning point, as a moment that the region, and even the nation, stopped looking forward to greatness and the future."
New York's senior senator also criticized Christie's plan to take about $1.8 billion of funding that had been earmarked for the project, and use it for road maintenance and other small-scale projects, saying he's sacrificing future growth to solve short-term problems.
"Governor Christie had to make a tough decision with the financial constraints that New Jersey has," said Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward.
In response, Christie's office issued a statement essentially asking Schumer how he would suggest paying for the billions in projected cost overruns, saying, "I'll also give Senator Schumer the benefit of the doubt and assume he didn't brush up on the topic before he spoke. Unless, of course, his remarks are merely political, which is always a possibility."

[WMAveteran]

I agree with Senator Schumer.  The Governor's decision is very short-sighted.  There are only two rail tunnels under the Hudson and they are both very old.  The AMTRAK tunnel is over 100 years old.  Also the tunnel as planned should have connected to Penn Station and not be directed to a new dead end station in Manhattan.

[WayneNYC]

I agree with Senator Schumer.  The Governor's decision is very short-sighted.  There are only two rail tunnels under the Hudson and they are both very old.  The AMTRAK tunnel is over 100 years old.  Also the tunnel as planned should have connected to Penn Station and not be directed to a new dead end station in Manhattan.

My understanding is that during rush hours LIRR, NJTransit and Amtrak has Penn Station beyond capacity.  I think they wanted to have trains from the ARC tunnel come closer to Broadway to (1) relieve Penn Station a bit as well as give passengers a closer connection to IND 6th Ave line (B, D, F) and Broadway BMT (N, Q, R) and of course the 7th Ave IRT (1,2,3) and 8th Ave IND (A,C,E) would still be a short walk away.  Supposedly, it would've also been ready for expansion toward the east side in the future.

This also would've been great for NJ Transit riders coming from points north/northwest as riders on those lines have to transfer to PATH to get to Manhattan.  I hope this project gets the green light again soon.

[WMAveteran]

Amtrak is now poised to take the lead in building new rail tunnels.  The February 8, 2011 edition of THE WASHINGTON POST reported the following:
"Amtrak is proposing a $13.5 billion project that would build two commuter rail tunnels between New Jersey and New York by 2020, replacing a $9.7 billion project that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) killed.  Amtrak plans to spend $50 million on preliminary engineering and design work and will take the lead in finding other funding sources, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) said."  "The project would increase commuter rail capacity 65 percent by adding 13 New Jersey Transit trains and eight Amtrak trains per hour at peak times into New York, Lautenberg said in a statement.  The tunnels would connect to an expanded Penn Station in New York with seven additional tracks, ..."  Amtrak's plans also call for doubling the number of tracks between Newark and Pen Station."

[mrpete]

While I totally agree with the need for a new tunnel and expanded Penn Station the ARC concept was severely lacking in that it provided next to no connectivity to transit and other rail assets in Manhattan. Nor did it provide a viable option for eventually extending service to Grand Central and the Eastside. (Galatically expensive!!!)

Let's also consider the fact that only NJT and the outgoing Corzine  administration wanted the ARC as it came to be conceived. Amtrak didn't want it, none  of the rail advocacy groups wanted it, but Jersey acted like Tony Soprano and rammed it through with PANYNJ acquiescence of course.

Construction of the Manhattan station would push deep rock construction technology to the limit and then to reduce the costs operational compromises were made that didn't make sense. For example,the station would have no tail tracks beyond the end of the platforms thereby preventing the movement of trains between platforms, eliminating train storage, and preventing  any alternative routing in case of the inevitable disabled train blocking a platform. (Wayne, think of the dead end PATH station in Manhattan for example.)

It was a bad plan. Amtrak's proposal ties in with the Penn Station replacement project that by comparison won't require nearly as much deep rock construction beyond the tunnel itself. This would also enable Amtrak to expand the NEC to 4 tracks btw Newark and NYC and provide an alterrnate route for the future dedicated HSL.