Post Tagged with: "New Jersey"

Bold thinking! New York City Studies Hudson River Tunnel Plan To Extend No. 7 Subway Line to New Jersey

November 18, 2010 at 4:08 pm

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

Image Courtesy: WSJ.com

Image Courtesy: WSJ.com

The Bloomberg administration is exploring a plan to build a new tunnel under the Hudson River that would extend the no. 7 subway line to Secaucus, N.J,  building on existing work being done on the no. 7 line, which is undergoing a $2.1 billion extension from Times Square to 34th Street and 11th Avenue.

The plan is an attempt to expand rail capacity and grab some of the $3 billion in federal money that had been set aside for a rail-tunnel project between New Jersey and Manhattan, according to multiple people familiar with discussions over the project. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spiked the rail tunnel three weeks ago due to concerns about cost overruns. Click here to read the full story

The WSJ also has a nice story that looks in to how the subway extension would transform traveling options (at least in the region) for the commuting public.

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Chris Christie at the helm of NJ’s MOST unintelligent decision, EVER!

October 7, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie
Image via Wikipedia

This had to be one of the odd things that anyone has ever done in the state of New Jersey. Hope this is not what New Jersey residents asked for when they elected Chris Christie as their Governor. If they have not realized by now, this decision he made today to kill the $8.7B ARC Tunnel project will make them fully realize what they are dealing with. What the residents of NJ got now is a somewhat myopic politician who does not have a vision to lead the state in the face of adversity!

First, I advise you to read the extracted paragraphs below (from NY Times) to understand what is really going on before reading up any further. If you already know, what the context is, then read on.

Now that you are well-read into the issue, let’s start looking at the nuts and bolts of this madness. What bothers me is the fact that NJ is already suffocating with its ever growing congestion and this Governor decides to kill a project that would have ease the congestion (at least the cross-border traffic between NYC and NJ) quite a bit over the coming years. The state’s growing population is adding to the exploding traffic situation, which is already a nightmare for many to deal with. Many of its roads are already bursting at the seams and this decision is going to make it even worse.

The total annual cost of traffic congestion in New Jersey in lost time, operating cost, and fuel consumption is approximately $4.9 billion. The average annual cost of congestion for New Jersey is estimated at $880 per licensed driver. Mind you these numbers are from a study, done almost a decade ago, that was partially supported by a grant from the Foundation of the New Jersey Alliance for Action, and the National Center for Transportation and Industrial Productivity, a member center of the University Transportation Centers Program, at NJIT. You can be safe to assume that these above mentioned congestion-induced numbers might have ballooned over the years to a much higher level, given the amount of economic and population growth experienced over the past decade.

By spending on this ARC tunnel, it would have encouraged more people to take their trains to work in NYC rather than to drive. Imagine what it would be like 20 years from now. What happens at that time? Will Chris Christie be around to undo this decision? Nope. Probably not and by then the state would have slipped so far behind other states in economic competitiveness and lost its value as a livable community, it will look more like a sorry state than an attractive state. It will no longer be the state that appeals to people as a destination to move to, buy houses, live, educate and raise their children.

It took 20 years to plan and several million dollars to get to this point and now the stakeholders and the general public have to go home, with nothing to show for, only crying over spilled milk! It is going to make the stakeholders, such as the Port Authority of NY & NJ, to run for cover when New Jersey proposes another big project of this kind. Trust me, this is a pretty good move to lose any trust you had earned with your stakeholders.

Alright, aside from the monetary impact there are numerous other undesirable impacts that are going to sprout from this decision-making! The growing congestion is going to worsen the air quality in the entire region and possibly harm the health of the people living in the region. This is not only going to affect the bottomline but also the well being of the resident of the state and the entire tri-state region (NY, NY & CT). It will cost them more money to care for its resident’s health at some point than to pay for this tunnel.

Is this what it all boils down to – undoing the progress of a state/Nation in the face of financial challenges? Where is the political will to march forward in times of adverse challenges!

I thought I was the only one who is puzzled by this decision but there is plenty of good company and they pretty much everyone has their own reason to be be upset. Here is Paul Krugman taking issue with Christie.

Amplify’d from www.nytimes.com

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Thursday that he has decided to terminate the construction of a commuter train tunnel between northern New Jersey and Manhattan because of escalating estimates of the project’s cost.

The federal government and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had pledged $3 billion each toward the tunnel, but Mr. Christie said New Jersey could not afford to pay the balance.

All told, about $600 million had been spent. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, a Democrat from New Jersey who supported the project, said that about half of that money came from the federal government and would have to be repaid by New Jersey.

The move would scuttle a project that has been in the planning for two decades and was supposed to double the capacity on trains into New York City and alleviate congestion on the region’s roads.

Read more at www.nytimes.com
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Wanna be famous? Get a DUI in Evsham TWP, NJ; Cops will post your DUI mugshots on Facebook

August 17, 2010 at 3:48 pm

(Source: Allfacebook.com)

There are so many reasons not to drink and drive, but if residents of Evsham Township needed one more, their police department has given it to them: now, drunk drivers get featured on the Evsham Township Police Facebook page, complete with name, listed offence, and mug shot. While this might be an effective way to deter criminals, there are some that question whether it is ethical to post these details on a Facebook page that can be viewed by millions of users.

police-department

Image courtesy: Allfacebook.com

Drunk drivers are not the only criminals to find themselves in the red hot spotlight of the Evsham Township Police Facebook page: a car thief, a store robber, a gang found fighting in the street and a movie theater burglar are among those with their mug shots splashed across the page. But the drunk drivers are the sticking point for a lot of legal and ethical debates. Is it right to post pictures of people who have been charged but not yet convicted?

Click here to read the entire story.

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Work begins on nation’s largest mass transit project; Offers new link between New Jersey & New York, doubles commuter rail capacity

June 10, 2009 at 4:25 pm

(Source: CNN)

  • Tunnel will link New Jersey with New York, doubles commuter rail capacity
  • Part of project financed by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
  • ARC, Access to the Region’s Core, expected to create 6,000 jobs

Image Courtesy: Arctunnel.com

The new tunnel, said to be the largest commitment to any transportation project anywhere in the United States in the history of the Department of Transportation, according to administrator Peter Rogoff of the Federal Transportation Administration, will link New Jersey with New York and eventually will double capacity on the nation’s busiest rail corridor, running from Washington to Boston, Massachusetts, officials said.

Officials participated in the groundbreaking for the $8.7 billion project as commuter trains passed behind them in North Bergen, New Jersey, before entering the existing train tunnel, which went into operation in 1908.

“As we start digging this tunnel, I think that what really it means, we are digging our way out of an economic crisis,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey. “As we’re getting under way, we’re seeing the dividends of the Recovery Act being paid right now.”

The project — known as ARC, for Access to the Region’s Core — is expected to create 6,000 design and construction jobs.New Jersey Transit says 170,000 passengers now travel through the existing train tunnel beneath the Hudson River to New York each day. When completed, the second tunnel will enable that figure to increase to 255,000 passenger trips. The additional passengers will disembark at a new concourse to be built at Penn Station in New York, 150 feet below street level.

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The carlet letter? NJ tags new drivers age 21 and younger with decal

April 15, 2009 at 11:27 pm

 (Source: Associated Press via Yahoo)

TRENTON, N.J. – Would you drive any differently if you knew there was a teenager behind the wheel of the car in front of you?

You might find out soon. A first-in-the-nation law in New Jersey will require new drivers ages 21 and younger to display identifying decals on their vehicles.

Gov. Jon Corzine signed the law Wednesday; it takes effect next year.

The decals will probably be a small reflective rectangle attached to the front and rear license plates to help police enforce restrictions on probationary drivers, motor vehicle officials said.

Police will use them to determine whether teens are violating the state driving curfew and passenger restrictions, said Pam Fischer, director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Safety.

Authorities will not use the decals to target young drivers or pull them over for no reason, she said.

The decals are long overdue and will save lives, said Ron Gesualdo, owner of Gene’s Driving School inMatawan.

“The parents are for it,” he said. “The kids don’t say anything, but you know what they’re thinking.”

One of those kids thinks the decals will only mean more trouble for teenagers.

“That’s going to mean police are going to be bothering us even more,” said Tebvon Mcneil, 18, of Paterson. “They see that sticker on the car, they’re just going to be pulling us over for no reason. Are there drugs in the car? That’s the first thing they’re going to think, because we’re teenagers.”

And not everyone thinks the new law will improve driver safety. Jennifer Collins, a 29-year-old Hamilton resident, wondered whether the stickers will distract other drivers who are looking for them in traffic.

“That really doesn’t make any sense to me, honestly,” she said.

Officials are considering using Velcro to attach the decals, so they can be removed by other drivers using the same car.

Click here to read the entire article.

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