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By: Tom Ozimek
The Hudson River tunnel project that’s part of the Gateway program will receive $6.9 billion in federal money, Biden administration officials have announced.
“I’m thrilled to announce the new Gateway tunnel will receive $6.88 BILLION thanks to our infrastructure law,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a post on social media, referring to the $1.2 trillion or so infrastructure bill President Joe Biden signed into law in November 2021.
“This is the largest ever transportation grant by the federal government,” Mr. Schumer told reporters at a news conference in Manhattan.
The money will be used to revitalize and expand the Northeast Rail Corridor as part of the Hudson River Tunnel project. Specifically, it will upgrade the existing North River tunnel that runs under the Hudson river between New York and New Jersey. It will also construct a new two-track tunnel from the Bergen Palisades in New Jersey to Manhattan, with direct access to New York Penn Station.
“Today, we are proud to announce that the Hudson River Tunnel project is entering the Engineering phase, moving us a huge step closer to finally revitalizing and expanding this century-old piece of American infrastructure,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement, in which he said that closures of the North River tunnel impact not just the Northeast Corridor but “the entire country.”
The North River tunnel has been repaired frequently but its age and condition are a reliability concern for the hundreds of thousands of commuters traveling through the tunnel every weekday, according to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
The agency estimated that a single day of closure of the tunnel would cost over $100 million as it impacts a region that affects over 20 percent of the country’s economy.
“FTA is proud to invest in the Hudson River Tunnel, through the CIG program, so these rails can continue to carry millions of people and billions of dollars that help define our country’s economy every year,” FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez said in a statement.
The billions earmarked for the project represent the largest ever grant from the FTA’s Capital Investments Grants (CIG) program and are a major push forward for the Gateway program after years of stalled efforts.
The grant program funds capital investments in heavy rail, commuter rail, light rail, streetcars, and bus rapid transit.
The FTA said that once the project launches, it is expected to create over 72,000 jobs in the region.
As part of the construction, the project will also create nearly 5,000 new affordable housing units in the nearby Hudson Yards.
The funding commitment from the FTA for the Hudson River Tunnel project will amount to $6.9 billion, while the cost of the overall Gateway program is around $17.2 billion.
Former President Donald Trump opposed the Gateway project, arguing that it wasn’t a priority for the federal government to fund and that the two states—New York and New Jersey—should bear more of the cost.
Other investments under the Gateway project include grants for the Portal North Bridge and for Tonnelle Avenue, which will provide the opening of the Hudson River tunnel on the New Jersey side, according to the FTA.
The Hudson Tunnel project will renovate the 1910 tunnel that carries around 200,000 weekday passengers beneath the Hudson between New Jersey and Manhattan, which now runs at full capacity, resulting in bottlenecks and delays.
The existing tunnel faces problems due to seawater flooding from Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
