Access to the Region's Core
Construction began in mid-2009 and the project was slated for completion in 2018, but it was cancelled in October 2010 by Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, who cited the possibility of cost overruns and the state's lack of funds.
[5] The project was initiated after studies conducted in the 1990s determined that new rail tunnels under the Hudson River were the best approach to address transportation needs for the New York metropolitan area.
Soon after work was halted, there was speculation that the previously discussed idea of the New York City Transit Authority's 7 Subway Extension continuing into New Jersey would be revived, but was later scuttled.
[9] A March 2012 Government Accountability Office investigated the decision to cancel the project and provided comments that questioned Christie's rationale.
[21] In March 2011 the PANYNJ agreed to redirect $1.8 billion earmarked for the project to repairs to road and bridges in Hudson County that it saw as part of the larger network of the distribution system in the Port of New York and New Jersey.
In addition to Hudson River impacts, the Penn Station Connector would have required excavation of a wide trench across Manhattan's West Side.
Known as cut and cover tunneling construction, this wide trench would have displaced many businesses and residents and required unlikely support from the Hudson River Park Trust, Community Boards, and other stakeholder organizations.
In July 2006, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced its decision to allow preliminary engineering to begin on the new trans-Hudson rail tunnel.
[30] Supporters called the FTA's announcement a positive sign that the federal government eventually intended to commit funding to the project.
These changes to the project scope were necessitated by a significant number of environmental, community, and engineering concerns regarding construction of the previous shallow tunnel and station.
[42] Christie did briefly reconsider, reviewing options in discussions with US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, but made a final decision to terminate the project on October 27, 2010.
[52] In a letter to New Jersey U.S. senators and congressional representatives, Secretary LaHood wrote that the state was liable for the money, and that non-payment could result in the withholding of federal funding for other projects.
[61] In October 2012, in an eminent domain case for a property in Weehawken that lies in the path of the tunnel, NJT was ordered to pay $8.5 million for the parcel.
[62] The agency also agreed to a $5.6 million settlement with a construction company, Barnard/Judlau Joint Venture, for previously completed work final design plans, drawings and reports.
[65][67][68][69] In a controversial move in 2011, Governor Chris Christie directed the PANYNJ to divert money originally earmarked for ARC to highway projects.
[83] NJ State Senator Ray Lesniak reportedly had sent a letter to the SEC and the Internal Revenue Service calling for an investigation into whether the diversion of money to New Jersey roads may have violated securities or tax laws.
The investigation also revealed that the Christie administration had already eyed the money prior to announcing the cancelation of the project in order to prevent a transportation funding crisis in NJ.
[86] In February 2011 Amtrak announced its intention to build a small segment of a high-speed rail corridor called the Gateway Project to also be used by New Jersey Transit.
While Amtrak acknowledged that the region represented a bottleneck in the national system, its timetable for beginning the project was advanced in part due to ARC's cancellation.
The project is similar in scope, but passengers travelling from Bergen, Passaic, Rockland, and Orange counties will still require a transfer at Secaucus Junction.
[7][8] On May 28, 2021, the project was formally approved by the federal government;[87][88] the Gateway Development Commission announced that the new tunnels would be completed in 2035 at a cost of $16.1 billion.
It would offer a direct rail access from New Jersey to Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, and Queens as well as connections with most other subway routes.
Travel times into Manhattan could be longer than under the original ARC proposal, because riders would need to transfer to the subway from New Jersey Transit trains at Secaucus.
Bloomberg had not discussed the project with either New York Governor Andrew Cuomo or Christie, and it would not automatically receive the federal funds allotted to the ARC tunnel.
[103] The study revived hope for the project, with Mayor Bloomberg saying "Extending the 7 train to Secaucus is a promising potential solution ... and is deserving of serious consideration.
[105] In a November 2013 Daily News opinion article, the president of the Real Estate Board of New York and the chairman of Edison Properties called for the line to be extended to Secaucus in tunnels to be shared with the Gateway Project.
