Highway funds must stay in New Jersey, not go to N.Y. Gov. Jon Corzine is leading New Jersey into a foolhardy joint venture with New York City and the Port Authority. This joint venture is the construction of a third rail tunnel under the Hudson River. The governor proposes to divert $1 billion in highway construction funds to pay New Jersey's portion of this boondoggle. The rationale for this tunnel is that its construction will allow more New Jersey residents to work in New York City and be able to commute in and out of the city with relative ease. NJ Transit, an obvious beneficiary of this project, currently carries about 40,000 passengers each morning through the existing tunnels. A third tunnel would double the morning passenger capacity to about 80,000. However, NJ Transit is predicting an increase to 100,000 passengers within eight years of the completion of the tunnel. NJ Transit is trying to estimate the number of additional passengers that it will carry in the 2020-25 timeframe. The additional 60,000 passengers are nothing more than NJ Transit shilling for the governor as a way to drum up support for the tunnel. Where do they plan to get the 60,000 passengers? From the stork? The U.S. Census Bureau estimates for 2006 have New York state with no population gain and New Jersey gaining 20,000 residents instead of the 80,000 that were predicted a few years ago. Long-term estimates have New York slowly losing population starting about 2010, and New Jersey with a very slow gain of about 20,000 to 25,000 per year. In effect, the population for the greater New York area is either flat or in decline. During the past six years there has been a large population shift within New Jersey. The counties of Essex, Bergen and Hudson have had a total population gain of 4,000 since 2000. At the same time Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties have had a combined population gain of 89,000. This is a huge shift away from the New York City commuting radius. Building a rail tunnel for empty trains to run through makes absolutely no sense. Recent events in New Jersey force me to question the $1 billion amount. The Schools Construction Corporation (SCC) told the state it could build all the required urban schools for $6.3 billion. The actual amount required will be closer to $18 billion. What the SCC failed to tell the citizens is that the $6.3 billion was only the down payment - $6 billion down, with $12 billion to follow. The people in Trenton who gave us the SCC now want us to believe that New Jersey's share of the tunnel project will be only the proposed $1 billion. If the SCC catastrophe is a bellwether for the tunnel project, then New Jersey's share will be at least $3 billion, if not more. It is money we do not have. The citizens of New Jersey do not need to subsidize New York City to the tune of $1 billion or more. New York has more than enough money to build this tunnel. The New York City budget for 2007-08 will be $59 billion, which includes a $4 billion surplus. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg merely has to reserve $200 million per year for five years to pay New Jersey's share. When there are cost overruns, New York can pay for them, since New York, not New Jersey, will be the actual beneficiary of the tunnel. Gov. Corzine seems more interested in the well-being of New York, rather than New Jersey. It is no secret that Corzine has a love affair with New York City; however, he was elected the governor of New Jersey, and his first allegiance has to be to New Jersey. What he should be doing is pushing for more economic growth in the area south of Interstate 78. If it means Corzine applying pressure to counties and municipalities to be more aggressive with planning and zoning, then that's what it means. If New Jersey is to have a future, it will be in the central and southern counties, not the northeastern counties. Economic growth, since Roman times, has depended on a viable road network. The $1 billion that is currently scheduled for New Jersey's roads must stay in New Jersey. Harold V. Kane Monroe Township