N.J. Gov. Christie will reconsider canceling tunnel

Under pressure from the Obama administration, Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey agreed Friday to rethink his decision to cancel construction of a $9-billion rail tunnel connecting his state and New York City.

Christie said Thursday that he was pulling the plug on the project because of runaway costs. Democrats said that would cost the state thousands of badly needed construction jobs and cripple its long-term economy.

But after meeting for nearly an hour Friday with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Christie agreed to listen to ideas for pressing ahead with the project.

"The fact that . . . [it] is not financially viable and is expected to dramatically exceed its current budget remains unchanged," Christie said in a statement. He added, though, that LaHood "presented several options to potentially salvage a trans-Hudson tunnel project." - AP