New Jersey Governor Kills ‘Boondoggle’ Highway Expansion

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill announced the state will scale back a major bridge construction project that would have added a new bridge and widened the highway leading to the Newark Bay Bridge. 

As Joe Cortright explains in City Commentary, New Jersey freeway opponents say the project would have been a pricy and unnecessary boondoggle. Rather than building two new bridges, Sherrill approved the project with the caveat that only one bridge will be built. “The estimated cost of the total project ballooned from an initial $4 billion price tag to nearly $11 billion by fall 2022. The replacement plan, still the largest project in the history of the NJ Turnpike Authority, will cost an estimated $6.7 billion.”

For Cortright, the New Jersey victory offers valuable lessons for freeway fighters in Oregon and Washington, who are working to stop the proposed Interstate Bridge Replacement Project, a $17.7 billion plan that would widen five miles of Interstate 5 and rebuilt multiple interchanges. “For too long, highway officials have gotten away with their best Jerry Lundegaard impressions, telling state and local officials that their hands are tied, because their manager (in another room) just won’t approve a better deal or not charging for the under-coating.” The example in New Jersey shows that, even once approved, projects can be scaled down and right-sized.