Christie Stops NJ-NY Tunnel

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is terminating the construction of a train tunnel under the Hudson River that would have doubled rail capacity into New York City. The federal government and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had promised $3 billion each for the project, which was initially estimated to cost a total of $8.7 billion, but after Christie’s staff reviewed the budget, they thought it would cost over $11 billion. Christie announced Thursday that this was too much. The project, which had been in the works for two decades, was expected to be completed in 2017. New Jersey Transit had already hired contractors and the Port Authority had started condemning Midtown Manhattan properties in the way of the tunnel when Christie ordered a temporary halt to spending on the project in early September.