Lackawanna Coalition

advocating for rail passengers since 1979

Author: Donald Winship

  • “Times” Letter Explains Need to Delay ARC

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    Donald Winship

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    James P. RePass, chairman of The National Corridors Initiative, in a letter published in The New York Times on October 15, explained some reasons why the ARC trans-Hudson tunnel needs to be postponed, pending redesign.  In response to a Times Op-Ed column on Oct. 8 by Paul Krugman, which decried NJ Gov. Christie’s decision to kill the tunnel (since…

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  • Tunnel Debate Continues

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    Donald Winship

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    New York MTA Chairman Jay Walder reportedly said on October 13 (at a Crain’s Business Breakfast Forum) that if New Jersey doesn’t want the $3 billion allocated for the ARC tunnel, the MTA will be looking to secure some of the funds for its own needs. (Reported on WNYC.)  Meanwhile, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) held…

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  • Gov Considering ARC Alternatives

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    Donald Winship

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    Yesterday, Gov. Christie ordered that the ARC Project, with its deep-cavern terminal, be shut down.  Today, he met with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and softened his position, agreeing to submit the issue to a study group from US DOT and NJ Transit. Still, the Governor held his ground on the cost issue.  He…

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  • Coalition Statement on Killing of ARC

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    Donald Winship

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    We agree with Gov. Christie and his administration that the ARC project as proposed was too expensive, and it was flawed.  It did not allow connectivity at Penn Station, and it could not be extended to the East Side.  The organizations representing New Jesey’s rail riders raised these issues, and we were heard and believed. New…

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  • NJ Gov Christie Kills ARC Tunnel

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    Donald Winship

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    At a 1:30 p.m. news conference on October 7, NJ Gov. Chris Christie announced that the long-planned trans-Hudson rail-tunnel construction project will be terminated; the Governor said that the original estimated cost of $8.7 billion might actually balloon to $11–14 billion, an amount that he said New Jersey could not afford.  About $600 million had…

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  • Christie Reported Ready to Kill ARC

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    Donald Winship

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    WNYC reported (Tuesday, 3 p.m.). on authority of 3 sources connected to high places in the Christie administration. that the Governor will announce later this week that the ARC tunnel project will be suspended and funding “repurposed” to highway projects.  The Governor, on the campaign trail in Chicago for GOP senatorial candidate Bill Brady, said…

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  • Legislature Reverses Course; Construction Freeze to End

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    Donald Winship

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    On Monday, October 4, as Gov. Christie’s transportation project freeze went into effect, the NJ legislature’s Joint Budget Operating Committee held an emergency meeting on the crisis, and reversed course, voting reportedly 4–1 to authorize the bond issue.  Democrats had held that such a bond issue requires voters’ approval; the Christie administration said it was…

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  • WNYC Covers Construction Freeze

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    Donald Winship

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    On Monday, October 4, as Gov. Christie’s transportation project freeze goes into effect and the  NJ legislature is set to hold emergency meetings on the crisis, WNYC’s Bob Hennelly reported on the situation.  He said that Democratic legislators’ concerns focus on the Governor’s $1.25 billion bond program to keep the projects going without approval from…

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  • Star-Ledger Columnist Pronounces ARC Dead

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    Donald Winship

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    Star-Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine, an outspoken opponent of New Jersey Transit’s proposed deep-cavern terminal for the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) Project has pronounced the project dead, at least as NJT conceives it.  In a column appearing in the edition for Sunday, October 3d, Mulshine said: “The ARC is dead.  Long live the ARC.”  He…

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  • Transportation Construction Gridlock Threatened

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    Donald Winship

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    NJ Governor Chris Christie’s 30-day moratorium on the ARC trans-Hudson rail tunnel has led to a “high-stakes game of political chicken”, which now threatens to stop about 100 road and rail construction projects around the state, according to a front-page article in the Star-Ledger on Saturday, October 2.  The Governor halted the ARC project pending…

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