Determining that his cash-strapped state cannot afford the escalating costs of a mega-mass transit project, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie boldly canceled an 8.8-mile commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River that would have linked New Jersey and New York City.

Work on the tunnel project began last spring, but the federal government estimated that the original $8.7 billion price tag could balloon to as much as $14 billion when Christie pulled the plug less than a month after he stopped work on the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) project after giving his staff and federal transportation officials time to review cost estimates.