Executive
Waste of the Day: Troubled Train Tunnel Gets Another $3.8 Billion In Federal Funds
The Hudson River Tunnel (and renovation of the North Tunnel) received another $3.8 billion award, and it still won’t be enough.
The delayed and over-budget Hudson River tunnel project in New York and New Jersey received yet another $3.8 billion from U.S. taxpayers, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.
The funds will be used to build a new two-track train tunnel under the Hudson River and refurbish an existing one connecting Newark, NJ to New York City, The New York Daily News reported.
The tunnel project now has a $16 billion-$17 billion price tag.
On an average day, 425 trains pass through the tubes of the existing North River tunnel, a route serving Penn Station that opened in 1910.
That wear and tear, plus the salt water damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012, has led the tunnel to need a serious overhaul. The project will add another tunnel with two tracks under the river.
The $3.8 billion comes shortly after the project got a record-breaking $6.9 billion in July, The New York Post reported.
That collective $11 billion from the federal government accounts for about 65% of the total tunnel construction costs, with the remaining $5 billion to be split by New York and New Jersey.
The tunnel project is part of a larger Gateway project, which aims to increase the number of trains running between New York and Newark Penn Stations along the Northeast Corridor line.
This tunnel project’s $16 billion price tag has increased, up from $11 billion, with the federal government’s share ever increasing.
Even when the $6.9 billion was awarded in July, The New York Times reported “Gateway’s planners still hope to receive more funding from other federal programs to raise Washington’s share of the total cost to at least half” of the remaining $16 billion it will take to complete the project.
Which leads to the recent $3.8 billion award.
Taxpayers in the rest of the country shouldn’t be paying for two-thirds of a massive project they’ll never use, especially one with out-of-control costs.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) was the CEO/founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Before dedicating his life to public service, Adam co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). His works have been featured on the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes, Newsweek, and many other national media.
Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." In 2022, OpenTheBooks.com captured nearly all public expenditures in the country, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending; 50 of 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.
The group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments, and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings, and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits; Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports; federal legislation; and much more.
Our Honorary Chairman - In Memoriam is U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, MD.
Andrzejewski's federal oversight work was included in the President's Budget To Congress FY2021. The budget cited his organization by name, bullet-pointed their findings, and footnoted/hyperlinked to their report.
Posted on YouTube, Andrzejewski's presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida received 3.8 million views.
Andrzejewski has spoken at the Columbia School of Journalism, Harvard Law School and the law schools at Georgetown and George Washington regarding big data journalism. As a senior policy contributor at Forbes, Adam had nearly 20 million pageviews on 206 published investigations. In 2022, investigative fact-finding on Dr. Fauci's finances led to his cancellation at Forbes.
In 2022, Andrzejewski did 473 live television and radio interviews across broadcast, major cable platforms, and radio shows. Andrzejewski is the author of The Waste of the Day column at Real Clear Policy. The column is syndicated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates across USA.
Andrzejewski passed away in his sleep at his home in in Hinsdale, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. He is survived by his wife Kerry and three daughters. He also served as a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church and finished the Chicago Marathon eight times (PR 3:58.49 in 2022).
Waste of the Day articles published after August 18, 2024 are considered posthumous publications.
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