N.J.’s Evolving Road Plan Ladles Billions of New Debt on Old
- Lawmakers want to finance most for highways, rail since 2011
- Less than week from deadline to raise gas tax, or no projects
Traffic stands near the Lincoln Tunnel in this aerial photograph taken above Weehawken, New Jersey, on June 10, 2015.
Photographer: Craig Warga/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
New Jersey’s rapidly evolving plan to spend $16 billion on road improvements over eight years would push record debt ever higher in a state with the nation’s second-worst credit rating.
Never have lawmakers committed to a Transportation Trust Fund authorization of such size and duration, but the state is hamstrung by failing infrastructure. At the same time, New Jersey’s credit rating has been cut three times by three companies under Republican Governor Chris Christie, and it’s under pressure to keep it from falling further in the face of escalating pension costs and a financial crisis in Atlantic City.