New Jerseyans can now speak out for the threatened Access to the Region’s Core tunnel using TSTC’s website, at www.tstc.org/weneedarc.
Earlier this week, NJ Transit executive director Jim Weinstein acknowledged that the ARC project to build a second rail tunnel between New Jersey and New York may be sacrificed for other projects. Specifically, officials in Gov. Christie’s administration have discussed defunding ARC to bandage up the state Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for most of the state’s road, bridge, and transit projects.
The Trust Fund’s impending bankruptcy must be addressed, but canceling ARC is not a serious solution. It is a short-term fix that would cause lasting harm to transit riders and the state’s future economic growth.
The Christie administration has already ordered a 30-day moratorium on new work on the project. If this work stoppage is “a trial balloon to test the reaction to killing the project,” as the Star-Ledger editorial board has suggested, New Jersey officials need to hear a reaction. New Jerseyans can tell Governor Christie, his transportation agency heads, and state legislators that they support ARC at www.tstc.org/weneedarc.
We DO need another set of tunnels to Midtown but it MUST be
both for Amtrak and NJ Transit. I do NOT agree with the deep cavern tunnel to nowhere.
We MUST have increased access for Amtrak as we go past peak oil, which was just recently endorsed as probable in the next 1-5 years by none other than James Schlesinger, first Energy Secretary of the US when he endorsed Robert Hirsh’s book predicting global oil supply declines soon.
ALSO we DO have another PATH to NYC which has operated for
a century via Hoboken which has been repeatedly cut by NJ Transit. In 2006 Morris weekend service to Hoboken was cut
50%, in 2008 cut 30% for weekdays and all 7 trains cut by Chris Christie were for Hoboken in 2010.
This makes NO engineering or transit sense – every day I receive alerts from NJ Transit on Midtown Direct yet going thru Hoboken when NJ Transit ran Hoboken Express service was actually the same time as Midtown Direct!
What engineer would route all traffic through a single point of failure when an alternative exists!
NJ Transit should restore full Hoboken service on weekends for all lines and Hoboken Express service to provide an alternate route.
We need more capacity to cross the river – two more tracks would double it – but we do not need the ‘deep cavern’ station separated from Penn Station. We need improvements to the existing station: tail tracks to the east, under 31st Street that would enable trains using tracks 1 through 4 to quickly leave the station after discharging incoming passengers, without blocking the path for following trains. Tracks 5 and 6 could be included, which would vastly improve train movements during peak hours.
It is essential that New Jersey support the ARC tunnel project. Foremost travel through the Garden State to New York is bottlenecked at the current tunnel. NJTransit and Amtrak share this space and if either has a problem commuters suffer for hours. But the tunnel is not just to address congestion but to modernize for the future. There needs to be a continuous route from New Jersey to Penn Station and then to Grand Central Station and multiple platforms for rapid deployment of passengers. Imagine using something that is virtually a century old and suggesting that it is sufficient. That would be like building the Brooklyn Bridge and then fighting not to build the Manhattan Bridge. Instead there are three bridges and a tunnel connecting lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. When you realize that the Hudson River tunnel is akin to the Brooklyn Bridge it should be a call to action!
[…] You can also send a message to your elected representatives telling them you support the ARC tunnel project here. […]