Work to start on $8.7 billion NY-NJ tunnel

I hadn't heard about this until Rachel's show. Very cool!


Work to start on $8.7 billion NY-NJ tunnel

By VICTOR EPSTEIN – 1 day ago


NORTH BERGEN, N.J. (AP) — Construction began Monday on the nation's largest transportation project, an $8.7 billion tunnel that's expected to double the number of rail commuters it can shuttle between New Jersey and Manhattan during peak rush periods.

Some commuters will shave 15 minutes or more off their commute times each way because they no longer will be required to switch trains to reach Manhattan, according to NJ Transit.

The 8.8 mile-long fourth rail tunnel under the Hudson River will require the removal of 2 million cubic yards of rock and soil — roughly a third as much as the Hoover Dam — and will take eight years to build.

"This is an incredible project," New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine told a crowd of 750 people at a ceremony Monday in northern New Jersey. "In today's economic recession, it has the added value of creating 6,000 new jobs day in and day out for the next six or seven years."

The new tunnel will speed the work commute from New Jersey to New York City by increasing the number of NJ Transit passenger trains passing under the river during peak rush hour from 23 to 48.

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