New Jersey Building Trades Join Lautenberg, Menendez, Congressional Delegation To Rally For The ARC Tunnel
The Largest Mass Transit Project In The Country Will Create 6,000 Construction Jobs Annually
NORTH BERGEN, NJ – October 20, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Standing with New Jersey building trades workers, U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today touted the job creating potential of the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) Tunnel project. The Senators were joined by Reps. Steve Rothman (D-NJ-09) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06), State Senator Barbara Buono, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and New Jersey State Building and Construction Trades Council President Bill Mullen to highlight the potential for thousands of construction jobs for New Jersey men and women that would be created by the ARC Tunnel project.
“The ARC Tunnel project is a jobs machine that will put New Jerseyans back to work,” said Lautenberg, who as a member of the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee led the federal funding effort in Washington for the tunnel. “This project is a once in a generation opportunity that will lift our economy and ensure New Jersey remains the best place to live and raise a family. This is our opportunity to get workers off the unemployment line and back on the job improving New Jersey’s infrastructure.”
“This is about creating jobs today and preparing for tomorrow – that’s a win-win for New Jersey,” said Menendez. “It’s part and parcel of a smart-growth alternative that addresses our economic challenges, our energy future as well as future transit needs. I don’t see how we could afford to turn our back on this investment that will double the number of trains going across the river. There must be a good-faith, cooperative effort to find a solution that fulfills the state’s commitment to the tunnel, providing a return on the investment of New Jersey taxpayers and putting to work the thousands of local residents who will build this tunnel.”
“The ARC project was lauded as a success during its groundbreaking by a wide coalition of civic, environmental, planning, and transportation groups and was seen as an important way to jump start the economy by creating approximately 6,000 construction jobs and 45,000 permanent jobs,” said Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ-13). “Halting this project will cease mass transportation progress in New Jersey and across the Tri State area, and will subject our commuters to continued congestion.”
“This is an important project because the ARC Tunnel will provide increased capacity to our aging and overburdened transportation infrastructure, create jobs, and improve the business and non-business quality of life for our region,” said Rothman. “It will not only improve our lives and economy today, but this is an investment that will continue to pay off for generations to come.”
“This is more than a transportation project – it is an investment in economic recovery and in our quality of life. The residents of Monmouth and Middlesex counties are experiencing choking traffic congestion that gets worse by the day as emissions take a toll on the environment and public health,” said Pallone. “ARC is also an immediate and long-term investment in jobs and economic opportunity, putting people to work at a time when jobs are needed most and constructing a tunnel that is key to New Jersey’s economic future. The cost of not following through on this is too great to be lost.”
“Construction workers are like all other private sector workers. When we don’t work, we don’t get paid; when we don’t work, we don’t get health insurance for ourselves and our families,” said Mullen, President of the New Jersey State Building and Construction Trades Council. “By getting ARC started again, you have saved 6,000 families, served burdened commuters, stimulated the state’s economy, and set the state and region on a better course.”
“The Governor is trying to bolster his national reputation as a ‘fiscal conservative’ at the expense of thousands of out-of-work residents desperately in need of a job,” said Assembly Transportation Committee Chair John S. Wisniewski. “The federal government, former Governors from both parties going back several decades, and even renowned economist Paul Krugman agree that this project is an absolute necessity in terms of the investment it will provide in our infrastructure and our economy. Yet in New Jersey, one person armed with very few details has the ability to override the wisdom of the masses.”
With the latest job numbers showing the unemployment rate for construction workers to be more than 17 percent, the ARC Tunnel will help create thousands of construction jobs each year. The ARC project is expected to create 6,000 construction jobs annually and another 44,000 permanent jobs.
The tunnel is also expected to slash daily commuting times by as much as 30 minutes for thousands of New Jersey Transit commuters throughout the state. By shortening commuter travel times to New York City, the ARC Tunnel will result in significantly higher home values for New Jersey. A study by the Regional Plan Association demonstrated that every minute of improvement in a commuter’s trip adds an average of nearly $2,000 to the value of their home. And if you live within walking distance of a station, the number is closer to a $3,000 increase for every minute the commute time is cut.
The federal government has agreed to provide $3 billion for the ARC Tunnel, which is the largest federal investment for a mass transit project in the nation’s history.
Contact:
Lautenberg Press Office (202) 224-3224
