Federal officials and representatives from New York and New Jersey have signed a deal to build the new Gateway rail tunnels under the Hudson River after the project recently received an additional $6.8 billion in funding.
On Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and others announced the green-light for the tunnels. The additional funding allows the Gateway Commission to start awarding construction contracts to begin work boring the tunnels either late this summer or in early fall.
With a total of nearly $16 billion in grants approved by the Biden-Harris administration and supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this mass transit infrastructure project is the most funded in the country’s history.
“After many false starts and obstacles placed in our way, Gateway is full speed ahead with billions from FTA ready to go and be used for critical work and construction,” said Sen. Charles Schumer on Monday. “Gateway’s future is assured and the most important public works project in America is all systems go.”
The existing pair of single-track tunnels between New Jersey and Penn Station is more than 110 years old, and also sustained much damage from flooding caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
In 2010, the commission began working on a different rail tunnel under the Hudson, but former Gov. Chris Christie canceled the project before signing off on a similar funding agreement with the federal government. Former President Donald Trump also denied funding for the tunnels while he was in office.
Now, the long-delayed tunnel in Midtown Manhattan is expected to be completed by 2035. Once finished, it will provide extra bandwidth for NJ Transit and Amtrak trains that usually experience many delays on that stretch of the Northeast Corridor, making them more reliable.
“After decades of delays, the Gateway Hudson Tunnel Project is finally moving forward. This Full Funding Grant Agreement will provide the critical resources needed to deliver an essential piece of infrastructure that will bring millions of visitors to New York every year,” Hochul said on Monday.
The Hudson Tunnel Project includes the construction of a new double-track tunnel between the Bergen Palisades and Manhattan, rehabilitating the North River Tunnel’s damage from Sandy, along with the creation of a concrete casing at Hudson Yards to allow the new tunnel to connect to Penn Station.
