Road to Nowhere: Infrastructure projects in U.S. stalled by spending concerns

But the estimated costs of the project escalated from $5-billion just five years ago to more than $14-billion (by Christie’s own forecasts).

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"I simply cannot put the taxpayers of the state of New Jersey on what would be a never-ending hook," he said.

The new Mayor of Seattle, Wash., Mike McGinn, has vowed to delay the construction of a highway tunnel because he is worried the final cost will greatly exceed the current $4.2-billion estimate.

"The issue of the overall cost of the tunnel has been a concern to voters since before the recession, and I think the severity of the state's and the city's fiscal situation is causing people to take a harder look at… an expensive and risky project," McGinn said.

Similarly, a planned $5.5-billion railway project in Honolulu, Hawaii is in limbo after outgoing Governor Linda Lingle said she would not approve the project’s final environmental impact statement until her administration completed an independent review of the project's finances. (The new Mayor of Honolulu Peter Carlisle, however, supports the rail project).

Andrew R. Goetz, professor of geography at The University of Denver in Colorado, explains that in addition to uneasiness about the amounts of money involved in upgrading infrastructure, both the public and politicians may have soured on the notion of such projects because of the debacles associated with two high-profile cases: the “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska and the infamous “Big Dig” in Boston.

The “Bridge to Nowhere” was scheduled to connect the town of Ketchikan, Alaska with Gravina Island, an island with only 50 inhabitants (at a cost of almost $400-million). Outrage over the proposed expenditures for such a dubious project killed it (although the state of Alaska eventually received the money for other uses).

The “Big Dig” (which was a highly useful and practical project to build a highway and tunnel to and from Boston’s Logan Airport) nonetheless saw its costs ultimately balloon up to nearly $15-billion from an originally planned $3-billion. The project became a huge fiasco, and involved accusations of corruption, delays, poor workmanship and, most tragically, the death of a motorist.

“These extreme cases distort the public’s perception of infrastructure projects,” Goetz said.

“While they are rightfully concerned about wasteful spending – especially in the current climate of fiscal restraint -- we have huge backlog of legitimate, worthwhile, necessary and important projects that will likely not get funded.”