At Long Last, a New Rail Tunnel Under the Hudson River Can Be Built

[mahatmakanejeeves]

This was news yesterday, but I didn't notice a thread in Public Transportation and Smart Growth or in LBN. From a while back:

Wed Nov 11, 2020: Finally, a breakthrough on the Hudson Tunnel with Biden

Hat tip, Joe.My.God.

Long Overdue NYC-NJ Rail Tunnels Get Approval
May 28, 2021

The New York Times reports:

For five years, the plan to build a second pair of rail tunnels between New York City and New Jersey has been deemed one of the most critical infrastructure projects in the country. But it needed a green light from federal officials. On Friday, after years of delays during the Trump administration, that approval officially arrived from the new administration in Washington.

The Biden administration has indicated its support for the project and the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, has acknowledged its importance to the economy of the region and the nation. “This is a big step for the Northeast, and for the entire country, as these tunnels connect so many people, jobs and businesses,” Mr. Buttigieg said in a statement announcing the approval.

Read the full article.

{snip}

First, Chris Christie backed out because he was running for president and didn’t want Obama to get credit for it.

Then Trump stalled the tunnel project to punish his former hometown.

Now, after years of stupid Republican politics, it’s finally happening.

Link to tweet

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Christie embezzled the federal funds made available for the Gateway Project.

After unilaterally cancelling NJ's participation in the GP, after shovels in the ground, Christie didn't return the federal money (billions of $$). He kept the money and applied it to specific NJ state transportation projects, so he could say that repairs were being done without raising NJ state taxes. (Think of it like this: you have a joint account with your spouse for the specific purpose of house payments, but you look at the account and notice it's been cleaned out. Why: your spouse has used the funds to pay for shop-a-holic forays.)

[Quakerfriend]

3. Yes, Christie

Took the opportunity to ‘steal’ that $$$ as soon as Frank Lautenberg was out of the picture.
It was senator Lautenberg who shepherded the project for years- what a great man he was.

[JHB]

5. Yup, and part of that was grandstanding for South Jersey teabaggers

A lot of "I'm stopping Obama from raising your taxes" stuff.

[mopinko]

2. file under- how the blue do it.

people need it, so gitter done.

[FakeNoose]

4. Pete and Joe are getting the job done

Are you paying attention America? This is not just for the benefit of New York and New Jersey.
It will streamline the entire rail system up and down the East Coast.

Leave it to Democrats. Either help us or get out of the way.

[bluedigger]

6. I helped relocate a cemetery in 2003 for this project.

I hope to see something come of it before I die.