Buttigieg Hears Mayors' Infrastructure-Related Concerns

Westfield NJ

10 August, 2021

2:41 PM

Description

WESTFIELD, NJ —A day before the Senate approved the $1 trillion infrastructure bill on Tuesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was in New Jersey to promote the legislation and also hear from a group of local mayors about their infrastructure-related concerns. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who ran for president in 2020, was the guest of Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-7th-Somerville), and the pair joined a group of local political leaders on the Raritan Valley Line train from Somerville to Westfield Monday. There, Buttigieg had a 40-minute roundtable discussion with several Central Jersey mayors, according to NJ.com Then, in front of the Westfield Town Hall, Malinowski, Buttigieg and Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, the New Jersey Department of Transportation commissioner, held a press conference to discuss the infrastructure bill and some of the local projects it would help fund. Among the projects discussed were: building the Gateway Rail Tunnels under the Hudson River, the rehabilitation of existing tunnels, creating a "one-seat" direct rail service from the Raritan Valley to New York City - to prevent passengers from having to change trains in Newark - and the construction of the Hunter Flyover, which would allow Raritan Valley Line riders to exit the train in Newark in close proximity to New York City-bound trains. "I understand riding trains takes longer than it should , not because of NJ Transit, but because the work we should have done as a country didn't happen," Buttigieg said according to NJ.com, addressing both the mayors' concerns and the need for the infrastructure bill. Cranford Mayor Kathleen Miller Prunty, who is one of the founders of the Raritan Valley Mayors Alliance, told Patch she was one of the mayors who addressed Buttigieg during the the meeting. She spoke to the group about the benefits of Raritan Valley trains running to New York's Penn Station. "Direct trains would greatly improve quality of life for commuters and put our towns in a better position to compete for residential and commercial investment, enhance current economic redevelopment efforts, enable employers to compete for younger, skilled talent from Manhattan and ultimately increase property values," Prunty said. The mayors also presented Buttigieg with an orange RVL One-Seat Ride tee shirt. In the meeting, Prunty also addressed the need for legislation that would fund infrastructure improvements. "It is shocking that anyone would withhold support and put hundreds of thousands of people at risk every day," Prunty said. "An emergency tunnel shutdown will severely disrupt how people get to work and delivering goods through the tunnel. It means more cars and trucks on already crowded highways and spilling onto local roads negatively affecting neighborhoods and contributing to an increase in auto emissions." During the press conference, Buttigieg also spoke about the infrastructure bill in terms of its benefits for the environment. "Every transportation decision, policy or bill, is a climate change bill whether we call it that or not," Buttigieg said, according to NJ.com. The infrastructure bill, called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed the Senate by a vote of 69-30, an uncommonly bipartisan vote, which also included a "yes" vote by Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, according to the New York Times. The bill will move to the House, which is expected to consider it together with President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion social policy bill -which includes funding for childcare, eldercare and other programs. The senate still has to debate and vote on the social policy bill. However, according to the Associated Press, centrist lawmakers are urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring the bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill forward quickly in the House.