by Lackawanna484
rvrrhs wrote:That's not always true.sullivan1985 wrote:Remember, the cost will just keep escalating, so we're all better off spending 2010 dollars than 2020 dollars on such a huge project. What's the difference in cost on constructing the new Hudson River tunnel between when it was originally conceived and now? How much more would it cost now to build a twin to the Goethals Bridge than to have done it back in the 1930s when they built the first one? How much more will it cost to build the additional on/off ramps from I-78 to the GSP, the ones they didn't build in the 1960s when they were expecting to run I-278 from Springfield to Elizabeth?Lackawanna484 wrote:My suspicion is NJT has many, many things ahead of the Cut-Off on its plate. The roadbed and bridge aren't going anywhere, so sit tight.Agreed... NJT does seem to be kind abusy one day, and as if now, the demand is still not looking strong enough for the people to be begging for an alternate form of transit.
But every year, more and more people are flocking to the country side of NJ and PA and one day, the Cut-Off will happen. Maybe sooner or later than the expected 2010 that transit told us on its project page, but it will happen...
If a project, like the Goethals Bridge, is funded with tolls, you want the toll revenue to cover the cost of the bond retirement, which is driven by the cost of the project. The Goethals was almost 20 years old when it began to bump against capacity issues. Had the original bridge been 16 lanes wide, toll revenues would never had secured the obligations.
A well conceived project will allow for expansion at a lower cost, such as the Garden State Parkway, which originally had a quarter mile of woods separating the directions from 127 south to 82. And, about 600 feet of woods through Kenilworth, Clark, Woodbridge, etc. Mostly gone, now.
Or, the GWB, whose supports were designed to hang another deck underneath, and to run to subways and/or Public Service Railway across.