NEW YORK — The last portion of a massive concrete box to carry the planned Gateway Tunnel project under development in Manhattan will cost more than $690 million — which could leave Amtrak to come up with more than $260 million in funding, NJ.com reports.
The Gateway Development Commission, the bi-state organization overseeing the planned Gateway Program projects, on Tuesday approved resolutions for construction of the last third of the tunnel box project, which began in 2013. Those resolutions include an estimated cost of $692.7 million and agreement on funding. The states of New York and New Jersey will each contribute $69.27 million, and Amtrak will contribute $292.1 million through a federal mega grant announced by President Joe Biden in January [see “Biden announces $292 million in funding …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 31, 2023].
But Amtrak is also responsible for the remainder — some $262.1 million — as well as any costs that exceed the current estimate.
The section of tunnel box under the Hudson Yards area will be 550 feet long, 50 to 65 feet wide, and 27 to 38 feet high, with walls ranging from 3.5 to 10 feet thick. It will support further development above the box while creating a pathway for the eventual construction of the tunnel.
NJ.com reports “very tentative” schedules call for preparatory work for tunneling to begin in 2024, with actual tunneling to begin in late 2025 and end in spring 2029.
If this had only continued to completion when it originally started back when Christie was the NJ Governor, but……..
What Christie cancelled was the Train To Macy’s Cellar. He was right to do so BUT he then siphoned off the money for his pet projects instead of doing the project correctly. And now, we’ve got the Taj Mahal plan that tears down numerous buildings (including a historic church) to put up unneeded office towers and a Penn South that is beyond overkill – but we do badly need the added tubes under the Hudson for new capacity, and to make sure we don’t lose access under the river if Amtrak’s plans to put off for many years rebuilding the old tubes lead to one or both of them finally giving up the ghost.
Presumably they saw this in the design phase and have budgeted for it.
Amtrak mgmt no doubt will make up their share by padding the costs to states for their service & siphoning the rest from the National networks funds.
The work from the present tracks and the river should be under construction now! Recognize that the river bed needs time for stabilization but getting the ventilation shafts done is necessary before tunneling can even start.
As mentioned the design of the box is based on the need to support future construction of the Hudson Yard development. How much is the Hudson Yards developer contributing to this effort?
Why use private the developer’s money when it can be shoved on to taxpayers or Amtrak?
It is also worth noting the Cuomo/Hochul plan designating the entire area surrounding Penn Station as “blighted” so same developers could build 7M square feet of office space has collapsed bc there is a glut of office space in Manhattan. So now the abused passengers using Penn Station will have to wait until 2060, or something like that for relief from the dungeon.
Yes, the design consultants.
In other words, a small fraction of the total Gateway project has already broken the budget.