Secaucus subway stop plan gets new round of discussion

With traffic congestion getting worse between New Jersey and New York, there's renewed discussion about the idea of extending a Big Apple subway line into the Garden State.

"New Jersey needs additional capacity to move our residents in and out of Manhattan for their jobs, and one available option would be to extend the number 7 subway line from New York City to Secaucus, but everybody must recognize that before we get to a ribbon-cutting, we have to have a frank and serious discussion about where the money is coming from," said Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville), chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee.

He said this would be an enormous undertaking.

"You're talking about a project that's in the billion dollar range or more," said Wisniewski, "You're talking about a project that should be set up as a cooperative venture between New York and New Jersey."

However this is one huge obstacle, according to the New Jersey lawmaker.

"It is very difficult to have a serious conversation with any perspective partner about any possible arrangement if you don't have the ability to put the money behind the promises you make," he said.

Wisniewski said New Jersey right now has only a miniscule amount of money in its authorized borrowing capacity for transportation projects, so the state needs "to have a robust and long-term transportation funding mechanism in place."

Wisniewski said finding a permanent funding source for the Transportation Trust Fund is not only about this, or any other specific project - it covers the entire transportation spectrum in the Garden state.

"The primary mission of the TTF is to keep the roads and bridges we use every day in good working order," he said.

The bottom line, Wisniewski said, is that "until we have the money we need to pay for the things we want, we have to recognize that bridges and roads aren't built on hopes and wishes, we need real money."