Amtrak Gateway Tunnels

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx urges Cuomo and Christie to meet on Gateway Tunnels.

“The condition of the trans-Hudson tunnels is a major threat to the region and to our nation’s transportation system,” Mr. Foxx wrote. “I write to urge immediate action and to lend my personal engagement to get the Gateway tunnel project on the path to completion as soon as possible.”

Build a new highway bridge or tunnel, and at the last minute change it to a railroad. That's the way to get it done.

Not a bad idea, but people may be a bit suspicious on the Manhattan side when they start to ask, "and it connects to what streets where?"

Nah, make it a bike tunnel from the High Line Park to Secaucus.

With two extra-extra-large "emergency access bores" on either side.

Now that one I could get behind!

(and you know, seriously, having a nice dedicated bike tunnel that could double as an emergency access tunnel is a mighty fine idea....)

Bike tunnel? Nope. Some idiot would ruin it and try to get to the tracks and trespass. + the PANYNJ would want to charge their $20.00 one way toll.

Cuomo says that the states cannot pay for the tunnel:

“New Jersey can't pay and I can't pay," Cuomo said, "and if we ever tried to put that cost directly on the back of the Amtrak passengers, of the New Jersey passengers, it would make the price of the ticket explode,” he said. “I don't need a mortgage, I need help buying the house because I can't afford the mortgage. … We can float bonds. I need a grant."

You can read the rest here:http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/a ... ly-bright#.

He is right, but I suspect that what this means is that nothing will happen because there is no chance Congress will appropriate any money.

Would love to see a 3D diagram under grade of midtown complete with minimum clearances for existing infrastructure. Even if a NJT or LIRR or Amtrak can't get between GCT & NYP, maybe an "A" division subway tunnel could fit? Just throwing darts...

Funny how we have money for everything but the things we actually need in this country...

EuroStar wrote:Cuomo says that the states cannot pay for the tunnel:

“New Jersey can't pay and I can't pay," Cuomo said, "and if we ever tried to put that cost directly on the back of the Amtrak passengers, of the New Jersey passengers, it would make the price of the ticket explode,” he said. “I don't need a mortgage, I need help buying the house because I can't afford the mortgage. … We can float bonds. I need a grant."

You can read the rest here:http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/a ... ly-bright#.

He is right, but I suspect that what this means is that nothing will happen because there is no chance Congress will appropriate any money.

Yet he was willing to start building a bridge w/o knowing how he'd pay for it. Hell I'm still not sure he knows how he's going to pay for it.

And he announces a brand new LaGuardia initiative, but nope, no new tunnels.

One problem tunnels definitely have is they're not sexy.

The political wrangling over these tunnels is really a disgrace. New tunnels are a national priority and should be treated as such. Dennis Kucinich Six term US congressman and former mayor of Cleveland was debating Bill O Reilly on Fox a few months ago and he said," Bill I have been in politics my whole life and let me tell you I could barley squeeze two dimes out of the Feds when I was mayor of Cleveland and for my congressional district in Ohio. The schools were falling down, highway bridges were in a complete state of disrepair but we in the House had a blank check for every new bomb, rocket, missile or submarine cooked up by the Pentagon and the defense industry. I fought them tooth and nail but they redistricted me out of spite and Marcy Kaptur won re election. This is how they play the game down there."

What i dont get ,is why is this not a national project, like the interstates ? It should be paid for threw federal funding .

Steampowered wrote:What i dont get ,is why is this not a national project, like the interstates ? It should be paid for threw federal funding .

Two words: Tea Party.

I tend to avoid politics on this forum, but there's been a growing movement to keep taxes as low as possible, often it seems, "damn the consequences".

And of course "all politics are local" to quote Tip O'Neill.

So folks in North Dakota don't want to spend money on a tunnel between New York and New Jersey because they think it's a waste of their tax dollars.

This despite the fact that the northeastern United States is one of the biggest economic generating (and hence tax paying) region in the US.

(of course folks in the northeast are often guilty of the same, "Give us money for the NEC, but let's defund those money losing LD trains like the Empire Builder!)

It's the projected costs that scares every governmental body. $15 Billion dollars is the hurdle that's difficult to solve politically, at the local, state, and national levels. There are entire transit systems in most cities across America that have a smaller price tag. And that's before the ultimate cost overruns kick in which almost always happen when tunneling under or immediately adjacent to bodies of water.

Let's place the $15 Billion into prospective, at $2 Million per railcar, Amtrak could buy 7,500 new railcars with the same amount of money. All the parties are going to have to share this high cost; NY, NJ, and Amtrak; neither can afford to finance it individually.

electricron wrote:Let's place the $15 Billion into prospective

Or $12.8 billion (in 2008 dollars) will buy one Ford class aircraft carrier.

Greg Moore wrote:One problem tunnels definitely have is they're not sexy.

Mr. Moore, you have made the most "on the mark" comment to arise from this discussion.

OK; let's see, in a given period of time, how many passengers, considering use of both Hoboken and Newark Penn as termini will be greatly curtailed, move through the expanded Hudson (North) River tunnels with far less fears of "bad stuff happening", than will board and deplane flights at a new LGA. Pretty sure the tunnels will win. Allocate those passengers over the 50 yr economic life of the $4B for the new LGA v. the 100yr $15B for the tunnels, and I'm certain the tunnels win.

But alas, allocate that same annual cost over the "photo ops' each project would provide to the pols and their entourages, and LGA would win hands down.