Hudson Tunnel Requires Committed Cash, Transportation Secretary Tells Senators
- Secretary says states can’t use federal loans as local share
- Obama’s promise was merely a throwaway rally line, she says
A conductor drives an Amtrak train outside of Newark, New Jersey.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Almost a year after U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao called a massive tunnel connecting New Jersey with New York “an absolute priority,” she said federal loans shouldn’t count toward the states’ share of funding.
The states have pledged some $6 billion, mostly from federal loans, toward a proposed new $12.7 billion commuter crossing under the Hudson River and were counting on federal grants to cover the remainder. Federal authorities have said loans shouldn’t count as the states’ share.