Though New Jersey Governor Chris Christie admits he is the one who pulled the plug on the $8.7 billion Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel, don't let that fool you into thinking he's actually going to take the blame. Nope, NJ Transit lines will remain clogged, and it's all former Governor Corzine's fault! Christie said the project "went from $5 billion to $8.7 billion in what was clearly a rush by the Corzine administration to have gold shovels and put them the ground and try to get (former Gov. Jon) Corzine re-elected. That obviously was less than successful."
Christie said the government flat out can't pay for Jersey's $2.7 billion share of the tunnel, but other officials are calling him short sighted. Josh Zeitz, a spokesman for Corzine, said, "This looks like another example of a Trenton politician doing what’s penny wise in the moment, but pound foolish in the long run." The project, sinisterly called "Access to the Region’s Core," is scheduled to be completed in 2018, and would create an estimated 6,000 jobs.
New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is also worried stalling the project could jeopardize the $3 billion in federal funding dedicated to the project. He said, "We’ve done everything we can to keep it on track. But the people who are running it is NJ Transit and the bottom line is that they have to get this done. We can’t dig the tunnel ourselves." Yes, you can, Jersey! We believe in you!
