I call him the Tunnel Assassin. Chris Christie, the man who killed the most vital infrastructure project of the 21st Century. The man who sentenced people in NJ, NY, all over the Northeast and the rest of the country to more poisonous air, days, weeks and months of time lost sitting in traffic, three and four hour commutes on crowded trains and the likelihood of a Mega-Gridlock, paralyzing the most vital transportation hub perhaps in the world.
The New York Times today reports that we are already in the early stages of Christie's Railmaggeddon.
For the third day in a row, electrical problems in century-old rail tunnels under the Hudson River on Wednesday stymied the commutes of tens of thousands of New Jersey Transit riders, illustrating again the shortcomings of the region’s languishing infrastructure system.
The delays, coming a week after the board of New Jersey Transit approved a major fare increase, created chaos during the morning rush and gave rise to another round of questions about Gov. Chris Christie’s decision five years ago to halt construction of a new rail tunnel.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Fox called it "almost criminal."
NJ Transit called it "unacceptable."
Christie?
Asked about the latest service interruptions, Mr. Christie’s office referred questions to New Jersey Transit, which blamed Amtrak’s maintenance problems.
The proposed ARC Tunnel's death was the cost of Chris Christie's Presidential ambitions:
He ordered that $3 billion from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey set aside for the plan be redirected to other projects in New Jersey. Critics charged that his actions were politically motivated and allowed him to keep a campaign promise not to raise the gasoline tax.
What fouls my engine is that he got away with it. The media and politicians on both sides of the river stood by while he cruised to reelection, even after Sandy brought Railmaggeddon closer with more tunnel damage. It was only the more obvious and theatrical spectacle of Bridgegate that finally alerted the public to the base and corrupt inner core of Christie and his cohorts. Paraphrasing Carl Denham in King Kong, "It wasn't the Tunnel, it was the Bridge that killed the campaign."
Think of it -- for this man's personal ambition -- now reduced to a joke by other factors -- an entire region is on the brink of being seized in a disastrous choke-hold that will certainly costs several billions and perhaps even many lives.
For other coverage of the Tunnel in the Times see here and here.