NEW JERSEY — A light at the end of the tunnel is brightening for one of the nation’s “most urgent” infrastructure projects: the Gateway Tunnel.
The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) presented a time-lapse video at their board meeting this week, which highlighted recent construction work on the Hudson Tunnel Project (article continues below).
When plans were first floated about building a new train tunnel from New Jersey to New York City more than a decade ago, many doubters had a common reaction to the news: “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Now, they can take a drive to North Jersey to catch a firsthand look at one of the largest public works projects the Tri-State Area has seen in decades: the Gateway Tunnel. See Related: Work On Long-Awaited Gateway Tunnel Finally Begins In New Jersey The “Gateway Tunnel” is the centerpiece of a larger construction effort dubbed the Gateway Program, which aims to take some pressure off one of the most notorious railway chokeholds in the nation: the Northeast Corridor. Learn more about the project here. The new tunnel is especially crucial to the region, as the existing North River Tunnel serving Penn Station is more than 110-years-old and was severely damaged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. While the tunnel has been repaired frequently, its age and damaged condition present reliability concerns for more than 200,000 people who travel through the tunnel on more than 400 trains every weekday. In addition to building a new train tunnel from New Jersey to New York, the plan also includes rehabbing the existing two-track North River Tunnel, building new Portal North and South Bridges over the Hackensack River in New Jersey, and making several other smaller upgrades between Newark Penn Station and New York Penn Station. The nonprofit Regional Plan Association pointed out in an April report that paying for the Gateway Program is no small feat. Learn more about how the project is being funded here. The overall cost of the Gateway Program has risen to roughly $17.18 billion according to a recent White House fact sheet, significantly higher than earlier estimates of $16 billion. However, the price tag is well worth it, supporters say, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited Newark and New York City in 2021 to express his support for the project. The Gateway Program was greenlighted during the administration of former President Barack Obama. It hit a brick wall when Donald Trump took office. But it has picked up steam again since Biden entered the White House, and has seen several key milestones since then. Last summer, the governors of New York and New Jersey signed a written agreement that guarantees a 50-50 split when it comes to funding Gateway. Read More: NY/NJ Governors Sign Agreement To Split Cost Of Gateway Tunnel Gov. Murphy and Gov. Hochul said they would work to “aggressively” chase more federal funding through President Joe Biden’s landmark infrastructure package. Read More: Here’s What NJ Will Get From $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Those efforts appear to have been paying off. In the past few years, several major infusions of federal dollars for the Gateway Program have been announced. RECENT PROGRESS “There is substantial construction progress on the nation’s most urgent infrastructure project on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, on the New York side, and in the river itself,” said Stephen Sigmund, chief of public outreach at the GDC. According to the GDC, some recent construction milestones that have been reached over the past month include: Send local news tips and correction requests to [email protected]. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.
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