“The president is concerned about the viability of this project and the fact that New York and New Jersey have no skin in the game. They need to step up and bear their fair share. They are two of the richest states in the country.”
— Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, discussing the Gateway project at a House hearing, March 6, 2018
— Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, discussing the Gateway project at a House hearing, March 6, 2018
The “Gateway project” is code for a new rail tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York. Supporters say it’s sorely needed because the existing, waterlogged tunnels under the Hudson River are 108 years old and nearly unusable.
Chao once called Gateway an “absolute priority,” but she changed her tune after The Washington Post reported that President Trump, amid a feud with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), is asking Republicans to kill funding for the tunnel.
Now, the Department of Transportation says New Jersey and New York want a fantasyland funding deal. Chao complained to lawmakers that under the states’ proposal, the federal government would be providing 100 percent of the money for the Gateway tunnel and 95 percent of the money for a related project: replacing the Portal Bridge in New Jersey. (That’s another 108-year-old structure near Manhattan that services trains traveling up and down the East Coast.)
“They’re putting in less than 5 percent on one and zero in the other,” Chao testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
The states, however, since 2015 have proposed to split Gateway costs 50/50 with the federal government. “Fifty percent is more than the federal government usually asks for such projects, so she’s just dead wrong,” Schumer said. “She doesn’t know her facts, or she’s dead wrong.”
What we have here is a black-and-white disagreement over basic facts. Do New Jersey and New York really want a full ride from the federal government, as Chao says?
The Facts
Train delays and derailments are a fact of life for hundreds of thousands of riders shuttling daily between New Jersey and New York. This congestion dominoes up and down the East Coast, since the Hudson River tunnels are a choke point for all Amtrak trains traveling through New York to other cities such as Boston or the District.
With few exceptions, political leaders in New Jersey and New York have long recognized this situation as a budding crisis. A previous tunnel project, called Access to the Region’s Core (ARC), had been slated for completion this year. But then-Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) canceled it in 2010, citing disputed cost overruns, at a time when the tea party was flexing its muscle over federal spending.
Without a new tunnel, the economic and environmental impact in the region would be severe, according to several experts and a 2012 study by the Government Accountability Office. But with Trump and Republicans from other parts of the country opposed to Gateway, securing the funds will be an uphill climb.
Chao has two primary concerns with the states’ funding proposal and we’re going to unpack each of her arguments. We reached out to DOT officials and aides for several lawmakers from New Jersey and New York. Because of the sensitivity and ongoing nature of the Gateway negotiations, these officials spoke to The Fact Checker on the condition of anonymity.
Full > https://tinyurl.com/ycrlmlfd
