Former Vice President Joe Biden said Friday that a recent D+ ranking of the nation's infrastructure by a civil engineering group is a disgrace and that Washington needs to fund a project to build new rail tunnels under the Hudson River.

Biden told the Regional Plan Association's general assembly in New York on Friday that it's time for the rest of the nation step up and help fund infrastructure here, the same way northeastern residents have funded projects or given aid to other parts of the nation.



"It's about each area in the nation making up for shortcomings in other areas. How many times have you as New Yorkers bailed out the farmers in Iowa or Nebraska?" Biden said. "What happens every time we talk about what our needs are?"



He recalled how Republican Arizona Senator John McCain debated him about funding about Amtrak.



"Why should my mother in Phoenix pay for someone commuting to Philadelphia or New York?" Biden recalled McCain saying.



Biden replied, "I'll agree to zero out any money for Amtrak and zero out all money for water projects. Why should my mother on social security pay for a glass of water your mother is drinking? Why the hell did you build in a desert?"



The most important infrastructure project in the nation is the two new rail tunnels under the Hudson, Biden said. The estimated cost for the entire Gateway Project is $24 billion, which includes the tunnels, a new and second Portal Bridge, an annex south of Penn Station, a second set of tracks between Newark and New York, and a loop track for Bergen County trains to access the Northeast Corridor.

"I walked through the tunnels, they're the lifeline for the northeast. The last three weeks have shown us they're barely hanging on by a thread," he said. "Unless we build new ones, it will be a disaster."

While the New York region has influence, it is also the most vulnerable because of infrastructure, he said.

What will happen

all 21 tracks (in Penn Station) or we lose a tunnel?" Biden said. "We've got to stop delaying and do it."

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

