What is the difference in the old ARC tunnel project and the current Gateway proposed tunnel?

Project Delayed
 

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The MTA has got to be the most inept transit authority in the universe. Why would anybody continue to allow them to build anything is beyond me.

Why can't they contract the oversight of projects out to some other companies from Europe or China, where they can build things quicker and cheaper?

And some still wonder why Christie quickly killed NJT's proposed ARC tunnel under the Hudson? Potential cost overruns was the answer. $4 Billion cost overrun MTA is experiencing wasted on this project could have been spent building 40 miles of HSR at $100 million/mile.

The $4 Billion cost overrun MBTA experienced in Boston could have been spent building another 40 miles of HSR. Golly, if you add up all the cost overruns on transportation projects nationally in the last decade or two, a brand new HSR line paralleling the NEC could be up and running.

Poor management of major construction projects is coming back to roost. I'm sure New York feels the same as Boston did, that these poorly managed construction projects must go on - the benefits far outweigh everything that's gone wrong. But that wasted money is still lost and can't be used on other worthy projects now.

Christie and his administration wanted at the 2B NJ contribution for other uses...mainly to prop up the nearly depleted road transportation fund (without raising the gas tax) and to create a slush fund for pork.

The MTA has pretty epically mismanaged the ESA and WTC but large parts of that are due to root causes other than construction like political infighting between NY-NJ, questionable appointments to the MTA board, and inter-agency squabbles.

The MTA has nothing to do with New Jersey. New Jersey has no say. That's the Port Authority. The MTA problems usually stem from NY State and NYC.

Apparently I merged a PA rant with an MTA rant. My bad.

Substitute 2nd ave/7 extension for WTC and NY-NY infighting for NY-NJ infighting.

Port Authority Funds PATH Link to Newark Airport
 

Port Authority Funds PATH Link to Newark Airport
$1.5 Billion Project is in Capital Spending Plan, Along With Airport Renovations

By Ted Mann
Feb. 4, 2014
Wall Street Journal


http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/i...0204182406.jpg
Image courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.

"The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will forge ahead with a $1.5 billion plan to connect its PATH train system to the rail station at Newark Liberty International Airport, officials said Tuesday.

The PATH extension to the airport from its current terminus in downtown Newark is a key priority of New Jersey officials at the bistate authority. It also has drawn support from real estate interests in downtown Manhattan, who believe a quicker connection to a key regional airport will boost the competitiveness of a rebounding residential and office district.

The announcement comes as part of the Port Authority's proposed 10-year, $27.6 billion capital spending plan, which was unveiled Tuesday morning at a committee meeting of the authority's Board of Commissioners. The spending plan had been delayed for months by wrangling within the agency, as representatives of New York and New Jersey negotiated over which of the states' respective priorities would get funding, officials said..."

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...63013633022416

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Yeah, I didn't like it at all. It look brand new train.

They are not going consider it. The AirTrain will be so extremely expensive. You won't see it.

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They did. Portions of ESA are being built by Dragados, which is a Spanish company responsible for some of the uber-cheap subway projects in Madrid.

The problems with ESA go far beyond the choice of contractor. One big issue is the division of the project into several chunks, each of which was separately bid. This eliminated economies of scale and created big coordination problems between each contractor.

Another big issue is simply the terrible communication in American bureaucracies. The level of coordination that ESA required with city agencies and utilities is staggering, given the labyrinth of underground structures and lines in NY, but the organization of those groups was not even close to sufficient. I can't be sure but I imagine that poor record-keeping and storage led to a lot of information gaps, creating delays and adding cost.

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Now would be a good time to upzone Second Ave to take advantage of the new transit infrastructure, but that's probably impossible seeing how it was downzoned in the past. Still, it would be consistent with BdB's goal of adding more housing to the city.