On-Hudson.com

Mayor Bloomberg Suggests Extending #7 Subway Line Under The Hudson To New Jersey

http://online.wsj.com/article/APa997d8f19a3146fb8a301afcdbd2c340.html

Policymakers discuss running subway from NY to NJ

NEW YORK — Policymakers in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration have been discussing whether it would be possible to extend the No. 7 subway line under the Hudson River to New Jersey, a city official said Tuesday. But there are major logistical, financial and political hurdles that would need to be overcome.

The estimated $5 billion to $6 billion plan would be about half the cost of a proposal to build a second commuter rail tunnel under the river that was killed last month by the Garden State's Republican governor, Chris Christie, because of potential cost overruns.

The alternative idea to extend the No. 7 line would cost less because the city is already digging a tunnel to run the subway from Times Square to West 34th Street and 11th Avenue, said Andrew Brent, a spokesman for the deputy mayor for economic development, Robert K. Steel.

Extending the line beyond the city for the first time, under the river from Manhattan's West Side, through Hoboken, N.J., and on to Secaucus, N.J., would save money, he said.

"Like others, we're looking at — and open to discussing — any creative, fiscally responsible alternatives," Brent said. "Extending the 7 line to New Jersey could address many of the region's transportation capacity issues at a fraction of the original tunnel's cost, but the idea is still in its earliest stages."

The idea was first reported by The New York Times on its website Tuesday.

Before it goes anywhere, the plan would have to be supported by Christie, Bloomberg, an independent, and New York Gov.-elect Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat. A spokesman for Cuomo didn't immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said the New Jersey governor would listen to new ideas to solve the "trans-Hudson transportation dilemma."

"But — and this is a big but — any plausible plan would ... have to be fair to New Jersey as far as cost sharing between all benefiting jurisdictions," he said.

New York's U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat, offered his support in obtaining federal funds to make the idea work.

"This is a bold idea that must be given serious and immediate consideration," he said in a statement.

None of the stake holders has been briefed about the idea, Brent said. It emerged out of discussions among policymakers in Steel's office, the city's Department of Planning and the city's Hudson Yards Development Corp. after Christie killed the plan for the so-called Access to the Region's Core project.

The $8.7 billion project to construct a second rail tunnel between New Jersey and New York was 15 years in the making when Christie killed it on Oct. 27. New Jersey was expected to shoulder $2.7 billion of the costs, plus overruns.

The federal government and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had each committed $3 billion to the project.

 

 

In Coming Governor Cuomo Inspects Tappan Zee Span And Concedes It Is at the End Of Its Projected 50 Year Life-Span

http://www.empirestatenews.net/News/20101116-2.html

Cuomo continues infrastructure tour, at Tappan Zee

TARRYTOWN – Last week, it was Sing Sing prison, just up the Hudson River from the Tappan Zee Bridge. Monday, it was the bridge, itself that incoming Governor Andrew Cuomo toured, getting a water-level look at the 55-year-old span. “It looked good to me,” Cuomo said, conceding he’s not the expert. He said a lot of work has been done to maintain the bridge, but, he added, the Tappan Zee typifies chronic problems with many of the 17,000 bridges across New York State.  “Many of these bridges were designed with a 50-year life, and we’re up at that 50 years, so we’re going to be dealing with that type of issue all across the state.” Two years ago, the state unveiled a broad plan to replace the span with a new complex of bridges that would carry both normal vehicular traffic, but with dedicated portions of the new structure for mass transit, both bus and rail.  The current cost estimate is about $16 billion, for a state with a growing deficit. Whether a new bridge is built, or not, does not change one certainty, said Cuomo. “In the meantime, significant work is being done on this bridge, because even if you decided tomorrow that you were going to build a replacement bridge, you would still need to keep this bridge safe for a number of years.  So, it’s really not ‘either-or’ at this place and at this point … repair or replace.  You’re going to have to repair and that’s what they’re in the midst of doing now.” When the Tappan Zee was built in the 1950s, it carried fewer than 20,000 vehicles a day.  Now, that volume is closer to 180,000 each day.

 

Leak In Containment Wall @ New WTC Quickly Arrested

http://www.dnainfo.com/20101105/downtown/hudson-river-wall-sprang-leak-near-world-trade-center

Hudson River Wall Springs Leak Near World Trade Center

The historic river wall at the World Trade Center site was exposed during construction earlier this year. The modern wall, to the west, sprung a leak Thursday night. (DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro)

 

The leak, noticed late Thursday night, was contained by early Friday morning.

By Julie Shapiro

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

LOWER MANHATTAN — A concrete wall that keeps the Hudson River at bay near the World Trade Center sprung a leak Thursday night. 

The leak was noticed about 11 p.m. Thursday when 2 feet of water filled a construction pit near Vesey Street just west of West Street, said Steve Coleman, spokesman for the Port Authority.

The FDNY responded and contained the leak by about 1 a.m. Friday, Coleman said.

The water flowed through a small crack in a concrete retaining wall that was built to keep the Hudson River back during the excavation of a pedestrian tunnel beneath West Street, Coleman said. When the tunnel is complete, it will allow people to walk belowground between the World Financial Center and the World Trade Center.

Brookfield Properties, owner of the World Financial Center, is building the tunnel from the west side, while the Port Authority is building it from the east. The leak happened on the west side, an area under Brookfield’s control, Coleman said.

Because the tunnel does not yet go all the way through, there was no danger of the World Trade Center site flooding, Coleman said.

A spokesman for Brookfield Properties said the leak may have started because the grout the workers put in the wall did not fully seal it. 

"It is my understanding that this is not all that unusual and a fairly minor issue," said the spokesman, Matthew Cherry, in an e-mail. 

There were no injuries or traffic impacts, the Associated Press reported.

The Occupational Safety and Heath Administration may investigate the incident, Coleman said.

With No Government Guarantees On Cost Overruns New-Jersey Governor Christie Ends "The New Hudson Rail Tunnel"

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aabvrxsYSOa4

Christie Ends New Jersey-New York Rail Tunnel Project 

By Terrence Dopp

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ended the largest U.S. mass-transportation project, saying the state couldn’t afford the potential cost overruns of a commuter- rail tunnel under the Hudson River to New York.

Christie, 48, a first-term Republican, said the decision is final, ending a review of ways to save the project that began more than two weeks ago at the request of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The governor halted work Oct. 7, citing concern that the initial $8.7 billion price might rise as much as $5 billion.

“In the end my decision has not changed,” Christie told reporters in Trenton today. “I cannot place upon the citizens of New Jersey an open letter of credit. What proponents are asking me to do is hand over a blank check. I simply will not do that.”

The tunnel was designed to supplant a century-old link shared by New Jersey Transit and Amtrak, the U.S. intercity railroad. It would double the number of trains that New Jersey Transit, which has reached capacity during peak times, can run into Manhattan, according to the project website.

Christie said the decision followed an “honest and frank” discussion with LaHood. The state is interested in working with Amtrak, the nation’s passenger railroad, to build a tunnel on terms that are more favorable to New Jersey, he said.

New Jersey’s Share

The federal government and Port Authority of New York & New Jersey were each scheduled to pay $3 billion for the 8.8-mile (14-kilometer) Access to the Region’s Core tunnel, while New Jersey was slated to cover the remaining $2.7 billion. Christie said the arrangement exposed his state to any extra costs.

The state’s share grew to at least $3.5 billion, and the U.S. government didn’t offer guarantees on cost overruns, Christie told reporters. The U.S. did offer a combination of low-interest loans, he said.

LaHood’s agency also proposed funding options including increasing the federal share by $358 million, saving $700 million by scaling back the tunnel’s design and entering into a $1.85 billion public-private partnership to build the station on 34th Street in Manhattan where the tube would terminate, Christie said.

New Jersey will have to repay as much as $350 million that the federal government already gave the state for initial work, LaHood said in a statement. The project could be completed for about $9.8 billion with “aggressive cost control measures,” he said.

Transportation Fund

It’s unclear how the state will spend the $2.7 billion slated for the tunnel, Christie said. He said he hasn’t decided whether to redirect it to the state’s Transportation Trust Fund, which is poised to run out of money for new projects next year.

The governor has said he doesn’t want a repeat of Boston’s Big Dig, the most expensive public-works project in U.S. history. The work, which replaced an elevated highway with tunnels, was estimated to cost $5 billion when ground was broken. It tripled to $14.8 billion after overruns and structural problems.

According to documents released today by U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, the public-private proposal included a provision insulating the state from overages by transferring those costs to private contractors. LaHood also offered a $2.3 billion rail loan with maturities as long as 35 years, Lautenberg said.

LaHood said Oct. 22 the cost of building the tunnel ranged from $9.7 billion to as high as $12.7 billion. Those projections didn’t include the $775 million cost to build a second span of the Portal Bridge, which leads trains to the current tunnel.

Capacity Increase

The U.S. estimated an 83 percent chance that the tunnel’s price would be at or below the higher end of that range, Christie said today.

The Regional Plan Association, a New York-based advocacy group, had said the project would double the number of New Jerseyans within a 50-minute train ride of New York and boost property values. Neysa Pranger, a spokeswoman for the group, said the project was the largest funding commitment ever by the Federal Transit Administration.

State Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski, a Democrat, called the decision “a monumental failure of leadership,” saying the project would have created 6,000 “immediate” jobs while reducing congestion. The move is a “brutal blow” to the state’s economy, Wisniewski said in a statement. The project broke ground last year.

Job Losses

New Jersey, the state with the second-highest per capita income, lost 20,200 nonfarm jobs in September, the state labor department said this month. The jobless rate fell to 9.4 percent from 9.6 percent in August, mostly because people left the labor force, the department said.

Christie said today that LaHood told him the state had lost its $3 billion in federal money and that the funds will likely go to other projects across the country.

Amtrak is “interested” in talks with New Jersey about constructing a new tunnel, though the agency was unaware of Christie’s statement, said Marc Magliari, a spokesman for the railroad. “We’re happy to have a conversation with them and we want to have it. There certainly is a capacity issue.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Terrence Dopp in Trenton at[email protected].

 

 

Maritime Education Center @ Tribeca Pier 26 Slated For 2012 Opening

http://www.dnainfo.com/20101020/downtown/maritime-education-center-coming-tribecas-pier-26-2012

Maritime Education Center Coming to TriBeCa’s Pier 26 in 2012

The Hudson River Park Trust recently rebuilt Pier 26, shown earlier this year. (Tribeca Citizen)

Julie Shapiro

TRIBECA — A temporary maritime education center could open on the new Pier 26 as soon as 2012.

The center will likely host scientists from the City University of New York, who will conduct experiments in the Hudson River, said Ronald Spalter, deputy chief operating officer for CUNY. CUNY also hopes to work with local nonprofit The River Project to teach visiting schoolchildren and members of the public about the scientists' research.

"We want to bring people from the city to [Pier 26] so they can understand what science means and how it plays a role in their lives," Spalter said at a meeting of Community Board 1’s Waterfront Committee Monday night. "It’s a perfect match."

The center would be a low-cost placeholder until the Hudson River Park Trust raises at least another $10 million to build a long-planned permanent, maritime science center, called an estuarium, on the pier.

The trust already has $5 million and some planning money for the estuarium, but it could take years for the rest of the money to come through, said Noreen Doyle, executive vice president of the trust.

In the meantime, the trust will likely allow CUNY to use the space on the pier that would otherwise sit empty, Doyle said. But the trust will not provide a building and may not even be able to give CUNY electricity.

Fortunately, CUNY students are already designing an 800-square-foot off-the-grid green building as part of the US Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. That building could later be reassembled on Pier 26 and serve as CUNY’s headquarters there, Spalter said.

The center would join a boathouse and a cafe that are also opening in 2012 on the pier. 

Members of CB1’s Waterfront Committee were pleased to hear of the project Monday night, though some worried that the permanent estuarium would never get built. 

"Every time we talk about it, it seems to disappear farther away," said Joe Lerner, a committee member.

Still, committee chairman Bob Townley called the proposal "wonderful." 

"I hope you can pull it off," Townley said.

EdgeWater Ipark Project Changes Submitted To Planning Board

http://www.northjersey.com/news/105504903_Developer_shows_final_plan_for_iPark_to_board.html

Developer shows final plan for iPark to board

MAXIM ALMENAS

EDGEWATER — Although the iPark project on the former Unilever site has been in development the last seven years, the developer is still putting the finishing touches on the plan.

During the Oct. 12 special planning board meeting in Edgewater, Joe Cotter presented changes to the final design and requested feedback from the board on the changes.

"We've been spending a lot of time on the project and when you have a two-year time out, which is what happened with the financial market, the world virtually stops. But what we have been doing is giving this development a lot of thought."

Cotter said his company has reviewed other projects nationally and globally to gain perspective as the best way to re-establish a true town center for Edgewater.

Cotter referenced another development his company completed in Tarrytown, N.Y., and compared it to the Edgewater project.

"It's a very similar setup. We built the borough hall, we're at a train station and we have the same amount of waterfront," Cotter added. "We learned what people like and don't like and what works."

Cotter said that in the past, developers were able to get one big loan for big projects, but in the last two years, banks have been conservative, forcing developers to build in bite-size pieces, which has created implications.

In lieu of those challenges, the company plans to modify the location of some buildings, including Building A-1, comprised of 75 affordable housing units, which was located closer to River Road and will now be moved in closer proximity to the Hudson River. Some of the apartments will have river views.

Another change includes the separation of some of the garages to make the site more aesthetically pleasing.

The site already includes the future location of borough hall, and the new Edgewater Police Department, but the introduction of a major supermarket chain could be most challenging for iPark.

"The biggest change is a community-size supermarket, which is a Stop & Shop, so it's a brand we can identify, so it's not a mystery," Cotter explained. "This will provide an anchor to the project, and it's the kind of scale we need to make this truly a town center, a place where the community will come."

Most importantly it will have sustainability, as people can walk, Cotter said, adding that visitors will not need a car to visit the site.

But after the meeting, Planning Board President Kevin O'Conner said he thought the supermarket was a drastic change.

"The traffic flow will increase drastically," said O'Conner.

A board member, Jay Malakoff, added that there were already four supermarkets on River Road.

"You have Whole Foods, Mitsuwa, Trader Joe's and Pathmark," said Malakoff. "And maybe two miles down the road, you have an A&P in North Bergen."

But O'Conner was pleased iPark was taking a hard look at the affordable housing units the developer plans to build on the site.

"If by any chance this development didn't finish, it would fall on the borough's responsibility," O'Conner added. "This way they're showing us they can build this in stages, which is what we asked for in our last meeting."

The board did not make any decisions in the end, as the meeting was deemed conceptual in nature.

E-mail: almenasm@northjersey. com or call 201-894-6725

Eight Years In The Works Construction Road Opens @ Hudson Landing 1658 Housing Units To Follow

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2010/10/21/news/doc4cc08bf3483ba153777746.txt

Road opens for construction vehicles headed to site of large-scale housing project on Hudson River banks

TOWN OF ULSTER - A construction road officially opened today leading into a site where a large-scale housing complex is to be built on the Hudson River banks over a 15 year period.

About 50 people gathered during a road opening ceremony off state Route 32 in the town of Ulster, near Frank Sottile Boulevard. The road will carry construction vehicles to the site where the Hudson Landing, a 1,658-unit housing complex, is to be built.

"I have never been prouder to be the mayor of Kingston than i am right now," said Mayor James Sottile, who has been a strong supporter of the housing project first proposed eight years ago.

Before AVR Acquisition Corp. of Yonkers can start building the development it will need to get site plan approvals for the first phase of the project. No plans have been submitted to Kingston's Planning Office.

Developers gave no timetable today on when those plans would be submitted.

 

Two Operators Interested In Warren County"s "Train To Nowhere"

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/zzbpr_north-creek-based-railroad-generates-interest-from-operators-1222316.html

North Creek-based railroad generates interest from operators

Oct 11, 2010 (The Post-Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --

The end of another season on the Upper Hudson River Railroad is just days away, but Warren County officials say there are signs that the railroad's best days may not be too far off.

That's because a "request for proposals" from new prospective operators has generated a lot of response, to the point that the county will to put out another RFP later this month to answer all of the questions the would-be operators have had.

"There's been a lot of interest," said Julie Pacyna, the county's purchasing director.

The county has a contract with the current operator of the North Creek-based railroad through the end of the year.

The controversial railroad has been dubbed the "train to nowhere" by critics who believe the money spent on it has been wasted.

Many supervisors have not been happy with last few years of operation by W.J. Riegel & Sons Railroad of Selkirk. They believe the company has not been responsive to requests by county leaders to increase trips and use the southern portion of the line more often.

The Board of Supervisors rejected a contract extension with the company earlier this year. That rejection was followed by a public meeting at which three railroad companies made presentations to supervisors and expressed interest in running a railroad on the line. Two of them were large operators who run rail lines in the Midwest and New England.

The two large operators have since come to Warren County to check out the tracks, meeting with leaders in communities along the rail line and exploring the possibilities of resuming freight train traffic.

"They've been asking about historical landmarks and events," Pacyna said. "They're doing their homework, they really are."

Another New England rail line operator also recently began expressing interest in the Warren County line, she said.

The inquiries and questions have prompted the county to revamp and extend its RFP, said county Administrator/Attorney Paul Dusek.

"We have had quite a bit of interest," he said.

Johnsburg Town Supervisor Sterling Goodspeed, in whose town the railroad is based, said he believes the railroad "is at the cusp of providing a real commercial catalyst to the Adirondack economy."

He said Barton Mines is one of a number of businesses in the county that have expressed interest in using freight trains on the Warren County line, and he said that a change in the way the country transports goods will result. The Warren County line now connects to Saratoga County's, which links to Saratoga Springs and the main rail line.

Goodspeed said the fact that "major players" in the railroad business have interest in the line shows the possibilities.

"I know the railroad has been controversial, but I think there's light at the end of the tunnel. And I think it's a train," he said.

County leaders hope to meet with the would-be operators later this fall or early winter, and to have a contract for next spring.

UHRR has been operated by Riegel for 12 years. John Riegel, president of UHRR, said he plans to seek the contract for next year.

He said he would offer more trips and special events next year, particularly on the southern portion of the line, and would offer freight trains if needed.

The Saratoga County connection was just made this year, so, he said, the freight train wasn't an option until now.

"We are capable and ready for freight," he said.

He said he was well aware of criticism of his company and he has tried to "mend fences" with county supervisors.

"They're critical, but I'm a businessman and I'm trying to keep everyone happy," he said.

The county had planned to have a new platform in Stony Creek in place for next season, but that stop at Thousand Acres Ranch looked to be in doubt late last week.

The Board of Supervisors approved the new platform last spring, with $33,000 in state grant money to be put toward the project.

It would require the ranch's owner, Jack Arehart, to give the county an easement on the property. But months after the board approved the platform, Arehart has refused to sign the easement paperwork, county officials said.

Geraghty said he talked to Arehart, and his concern is that he doesn't want the easement to be permanent, in case he wants to sell the property and would-be buyers didn't want the easement.

Dusek, though, said easements are permanent. And the time to get the project done this year, which the grant requires, has passed.

"Even if he says yes now, we may not be able to build it," Dusek said.

Arehart did not return a phone call for comment Friday.

The county was looking into whether it could get an extension on the grant, so that if work was started this year it could be completed next year. But Dusek said officials had not gotten an answer as of late last week.

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Jersey Governor Christie Opts Out Of Hudson River Tunnel Project As Costs Look To Exceed $11 Billion

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69648520101008

NJ governor kills Hudson River tunnel due to costs

 Jon Hurdle

(Reuters) - One of the biggest U.S. transport projects ended on Thursday after New Jersey's governor said the state could not afford the risk that a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River could cost billions more than planned.

Republican Governor Chris Christie, who took office in January, said the $8.7 billion budget for the tunnel between New Jersey and New York City's midtown Manhattan could rise to more than $11 billion and even surpass $14 billion.

"We simply can't spend what we don't have," Christie told a news conference. "I had to figure out how I was going to pay for it. We simply can't."

Christie inherited the tunnel project from former Democratic Governor Jon Corzine. He halted work in mid-September for 30 days and asked his staff and federal transportation officials to review the cost estimates.

Under the original deal, the federal government and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were each to pay $3 billion, with $2.7 billion coming from a combination of other federal funds, including stimulus and clean air funding, as well a contribution from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

But crucial to the funding plan was that New Jersey was to pay anything above the $8.7 billion estimate.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood requested to meet with Christie after the governor told him of his decision. The meeting is scheduled for Friday in Trenton, the governor's spokesmen said.

Christie's decision means no contract has been signed for completion of the project and the federal funding was not secured.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New Jersey Transit both declined to comment on the termination of the project. New York Governor David Paterson said he was disappointed but respected Christie's decision and understood "the difficulty of governing in our current economic climate."

Christie has garnered national attention for progress made tackling the state's record $11 billion budget deficit during his first year in office. He has been invited by other Republicans across the country to campaign for them ahead of the November 2 congressional elections in a multi-state tour that has added fuel to speculation that he might consider a presidential run.

Christie is pushing a lean-government, low-tax agenda that includes limiting annual increases in the state's property taxes, the highest in the nation. He has refused to raise money by increasing taxes on gasoline, among the lowest-priced in the country.

New Jersey Democratic Party Chairman John Wisniewski said there was no evidence that the Hudson River tunnel would exceed its estimated budget and accused Christie of canceling the project in a bid to fuel his growing national profile.

"It fits with his national agenda," Wisniewski said. "There is no better time to get public works projects than now and the governor is throwing away this opportunity."

One century-old Hudson River commuter train tunnel runs between New Jersey and Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station. Transit advocates say the tunnel is so overcrowded that commuters frequently endure long delays.

Christie had repeatedly stressed that New Jersey is too cash-poor to pay for any cost overruns by itself. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who supported the project, has said the city did not have money to contribute to the project.

Digging for the tunnel, which was estimated to create 6,000 jobs, began in June 2009. It was to open in 2018.

Critics have called Christie overbearing and confrontational toward the New Jersey state legislature, which is Democrat-controlled. But his fans praise his straight talk, his forceful style and his record of getting things done.

 

 

 

Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel Project Estimate Of $8.7 Billion And Counting

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/nyregion/20tunnel.html

Hudson Tunnel Review Raises Fear for Project

 PATRICK McGEEHAN

Few elected officials have ever inherited a public works project that promised as many benefits as the proposed Hudson River commuter train tunnel is supposed to deliver to the constituents of Gov. Chris Christie

Gov. Chris Christie ordered a review of the tunnel's cost, now estimated at $8.7 billion.

Advocates for the project, which would add a second pair of tracks between New Jersey and Manhattan, say it will reduce traffic congestion and pollution, shorten commuting times, increase suburban property values and create 6,000 construction jobs. Before Mr. Christie became New Jersey’s governor in January, the state’s elected officials had already lined up $6 billion for the project from agencies outside the state.

Despite everything that the project appeared to have going for it, Mr. Christie ordered a review this month of the tunnel’s cost, a move that many supporters of the project worry could signal its undoing.

During the 30-day review, digging will continue on the New Jersey side of the river, but no new work will begin. “If I can’t pay for it, we’ll have to consider other options,” Mr. Christie said last week.

On Friday, New Jersey’s two senators, Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, and several other Democratic officials appeared at the site where digging began last year and urged the governor to reconsider. “Don’t throw away $6 billion; don’t throw away thousands of jobs,” Mr. Lautenberg said.

If state officials conclude that the project will cost significantly more than the latest estimate, $8.7 billion, advocates fear that Mr. Christie will withdraw some or all of the state’s share of that total and redirect it to highway repairs and other transportation projects, putting the tunnel at risk of being delayed or even scrapped.

Giant public works projects are infamous for costing far more than projected — the “Big Dig” highway tunnel in Boston cost more than twice what was initially estimated — but the Hudson tunnel project, which broke ground last summer, has not run over budget. Still, even some ardent supporters expect that it will.

“It’s obvious there’s going to be a couple billion dollars’ shortfall,” said Raymond J. Lesniak, a Democrat who is chairman of the Economic Growth Committee of the New Jersey State Senate. But Mr. Lesniak said the state should find a way to come up with the additional money rather than “let that kill this project.” He said Mr. Christie’s decision to halt the project and review its cost was irresponsible because it could set back the schedule by several months.

Mr. Lesniak suggested covering the excess costs by charging $2 per ticket to commuters who use the new tunnel. But that money would not be collected for at least eight years because the project is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

On Thursday, the governor discussed the project with Ray LaHood, the federal transportation secretary. “Given that this project represents the single largest transit investment ever made by the Federal Transit Administration, the secretary and governor agreed to have staff work together to further refine the estimated cost of the entire project,” said Brian Farber, a spokesman for the transit administration.

The federal government has agreed to match the $3 billion that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey pledged to spend on the tunnel. But that carefully constructed financing plan could still unravel because the project’s planners have not yet awarded contracts to dig under the river and through the bedrock of Manhattan to create a station deep below 34th Street.

Zoe Baldwin, the New Jersey advocate for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, described the review as “a very, very bad sign for the project.” She said she would be “shocked” if the governor’s move did not at least stretch out the timetable for completing the work.

Ms. Baldwin said the prospect of passing up the $3 billion that the federal government had offered reminded her of the New York Legislature’s rejection of a congestion pricingsystem in Manhattan. That decision cost New York State $365 million in federal funding, Ms. Baldwin said. Scrapping the Hudson tunnel would be much costlier for New Jersey and the region’s economy, she said.

“Killing this project would be an incredible loss for generations,” Ms. Baldwin said. “We can’t do a single heavy-rail expansion in New Jersey without this project.”

But some commuter-rail advocates greeted the governor’s review as an opportunity reborn. Jeff Tittel, the director of the Sierra Club in New Jersey, said state and federal officials should use the “time out” to reconsider the configuration of the project.

As proposed, the new tunnel would take trains from throughout northern New Jersey to a station more than 100 feet below street level at the foot of Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street. Those tracks would not connect to Pennsylvania Station, a block away.

Mr. Tittel is part of the vocal camp that has argued that the new tunnel should connect to Penn Station, as it was originally designed to do. The National Association of Railroad Passengers last week urged commuters to tell their elected officials that the tunnel project was vital to the region, but that it must connect to the station.

Mr. Tittel pointed out that Amtrak, which owns Penn Station, had drawn up a long-term capital plan that called for a separate new tunnel under the Hudson River, at an estimated cost of $11 billion. That plan assumed that the New Jersey Transit tunnel would be built first. But Mr. Tittel argues that there must be a way to build one set of tunnels that would meet the needs of both railroads.

“I just can’t believe that the federal government is going to pay for two separate sets of tunnels to the same area,” Mr. Tittel said. “I just don’t see that happening.”

Despite the continuing swirl of opinions about how and whether to provide commuters another way into the city, there is one point on which almost all supporters and detractors agree: Unless Mr. Christie expresses strong support for the project after the review is over, the tunnel known as the Trans-Hudson Express is not going anywhere anytime soon.