估计估计87亿美元的跨哈德逊河铁路隧道的微弱命运体现了整个美国运输业面临的困境:如何在提高燃料税是政治自杀并通过多年运输法案的时候,如何为重要的大型投资提供资金新利18备用网址梦想。

Photo: NYNJ Port Authority

New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie (R) announced on Oct. 7 that he was killing the project, called Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) and in development for almost 20 years. But after a quickly arranged meeting with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff the next day in Trenton, Christie agreed to a two-week study of unspecified project “options.”

拉胡德(Lahood)召集了美国运输部和新泽西州运输部(NJT)官员的“小型工作组”,以在10月22日之前审查克里斯蒂的项目选择。到目前为止,有关谈判的信息是最高机密:NJT发言人拒绝透露,小组成员的数量和身份。

Supporters of ARC—which includes a 5,200-ft-long Palisades tunnel, a 5,300-ft-long Manhattan tunnel, a 7,400-ft pair of tunnels under the river, and a controversial new terminus under 34th Street in midtown Manhattan—envisioned it as a crucial new link between the Garden State and New York City that would create 6,000 direct construction jobs.

尽管联邦政府和纽约和新泽西州港口管理局的项目承诺每笔承诺为30亿美元,但克里斯蒂说,他担心成本超支的成本可能在20亿至50亿美元之间。他说:“ ARC项目在财务上不可行,预计将大大超过其当前预算的事实保持不变。”但是克里斯蒂(Christie)指出,拉霍德(Lahood)“提出了一些可能挽救跨性别者隧道项目的选择。”官员们不会确认已发表的报告,即期权可能包括私人投资者或缩小项目范围的方式。

“It’s looking dire,” says Brian Deery, senior director at the Associated General Contractors of America. “They’re looking at other options, but I can’t imagine how many are out there. The [government] won’t put in its share if the state won’t.”

One ARC official says cost projections of up to $14 billion would happen “only if everything goes to hell.” He says the project’s likely final cost would exceed the current figure even though construction bids favor owners in the current competitive marketplace. The official adds that, among other things, officials are looking at an approach with more phases that would enable “minimum operating service” by the current 2018 completion date. He notes the potential savings if Amtrak decides to fund and manage a new Hackensack River bridge. That project, estimated at $775 million, would replace a 100-year-old span that carries Amtrak and regional transit trains. The official says reviewers may link ARC’s Manhattan terminus with a possible Amtrak high-speed-rail station that would be separate from Penn Station.

While observers call Christie “prudent” for wanting to scrutinize the project, they worry about the message sent if it is killed. “Termination of ARC raises the specter of a larger shift in public support for major infrastructure investments,” says Richard Anderson, president of the New York Building Congress.

As state and local governments continue to face budget shortfalls, more long-term projects may be reconsidered. Tom Warne, former chief of the Utah Dept. of Transportation and now a Salt Lake City consultant, says, “The tunnel is needed, no question. But can they provide it in a form that doesn’t blow up the budget?”

Christie has said the ARC project costs far more than New Jersey taxpayers can afford, but observers say he aims to use the state’s $2.7-billion share to replenish the state’s almost depleted transportation trust fund without raising taxes.

ARC的灭亡将使其近350人的代理商和咨询人员陷入困境。去年在新泽西州开始建设,但其他两个主要部分的合同仍然没有受到预感。ARC官员说,NJT可以“出于方便”终止当前合同,但会面临索赔和可能的诉讼。承包商消息人士说,官员尚未回应承包商提出的圆桌会议,以讨论减轻成本。消息人士说:“看到一个80亿美元的项目,有25个单独的合同消失并不容易。”