The long-awaited Gateway tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York City has received a $6.9 billion federal grant that provides a key piece of funding needed to begin full construction.
(Bloomberg) — The long-awaited Gateway tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York City has received a $6.9 billion federal grant that provides a key piece of funding needed to begin full construction.
The allocation is the largest ever from the Federal Transit Administration’s capital investments and grants program, US Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said in a tweet Thursday. It was made possible by the $1 trillion infrastructure bill approved by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in 2021, Schumer said.
The cost of the new tunnel under the Hudson River has climbed to $16.1 billion, an estimate that is 14% higher than a 2021 projection. Half the cost was expected to be covered by the federal government, and the rest by New York and New Jersey, with contributions from Amtrak and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Gateway is critical for the corridor, Amtrak’s busiest route, carrying more than 2,200 daily trains and stretching from Washington to Boston. The massive project includes construction of a new underwater tunnel as well as replacement of the existing one that was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
The Gateway Development Commission, which is overseeing the project, said the remainder of the federal funding will come through a $4 billion federal-state partnership.
“Combined with early work beginning in New York and New Jersey, the FTA’s commitment of the vast majority of federal funding for the project is an enormous step in ensuring we move quickly to create a 21st century rail experience for hundreds of thousands of passengers, Kris Kolluri, the commission’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The rail tunnel took a step forward in May when the commission put Amtrak, the future owner of the tunnel, in charge of the $292 million right-of-way in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards neighborhood.
Read more: NYC’s $16 billion Gateway tunnel wins key access at Hudson Yards
The start of major construction, once proposed for mid-2023, is now expected in 2024. A predecessor tunnel project was canceled in 2010 by then-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
The Gateway tunnel is one of a number of efforts to revamp the nation’s roads, rail and bridges that Biden has been touting around the country. Biden, the nation’s most prominent train lover, said the project is key for the entire Northeast region.
“This is the busiest corridor in the United States of America,” Biden said in January at a New York City event heralding the Gateway plan. “It matters a lot.”
–With assistance from Michelle Kaske.
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