Access to the Region's Core Cancellation (2010)
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie canceled the $8.7 billion ARC tunnel project, which would have built two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River to a new station beneath 34th Street in Manhattan. Christie cited potential cost overruns that could exceed $2 billion, though critics noted the state had already spent $600 million on the project.
New Jersey forfeited $3 billion in committed federal funding. The Gateway Program emerged as ARC's replacement, but starting from scratch delayed new trans-Hudson capacity by over a decade.
The cancellation became a cautionary tale about political interference in major infrastructure. Gateway's advocates structured its funding to minimize state liability, but the project remained vulnerable to federal political opposition.
The ARC cancellation directly created Gateway—and demonstrated how a single political decision can delay critical infrastructure for a generation. Today's funding freeze raises the specter of history repeating.