Funds may be diverted from Hudson River rail tunnel

Gov. Chris Christie

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s administration is considering the possibility of diverting $2.5 billion in state funds from the Hudson River rail tunnel toward other transportation projects, Crain’s reported. According to James Weinstein, executive director of New Jersey Transit, there have been talks of using the money to replenish the Transportation Trust Fund, which finances road and rail work, and which will run out of money by 2011 to pay for anything other than debt service on its $12 billion of bonds. “There have been those discussions, but there have been no decisions,” Weinstein said yesterday at a transportation committee hearing in Trenton. Last week, New Jersey transit froze new spending on an $8.7 billion rail tunnel into Manhattan for a month after the federal government estimated the project may run $1 billion over budget. “If it’s going to be that expensive, we’re going to have to go in another direction,” Christie said in a radio interview. ” Michael Drewniak, a spokesperson for Christie, declined to comment on the possible diversion of funds, which would be an “economic disaster” according to Assembly member John Wisniewski, chairman of the transportation committee. [Crain’s]

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