NEW YORK — Following a 13-year delay, it appears construction will begin in October on the initial steps leading to a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River to Midtown Manhattan, according to a story in the New York Times.
The Gateway Program, which will address infrastructure needs on 10-miles of the Northeast Corridor, is a series of projects including two new tunnel bores under the Hudson River from New Jersey into Manhattan’s Penn Station. Once the new tunnels are in service, the current 1910 bores would be refurbished. [see, “Amtrak faces major price tag for next step in Gateway Tunnel project,” News Wire, May 3, 2023.]
Before tunnel boring can begin, Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, N.J., needs to be raised to clear the existing train tracks by 19 feet. Associated utilities also need to be moved. The clearance is required so that the tunnel boring equipment can be moved into place.
Conti Civil, from Edison, N.J., was awarded the contract for this work. The Gateway Development Commission, using a $25 million grant from the federal government, approved $47.3 million in contracts to raise the roadway and move utilities.
“The Hudson Tunnel Project is moving rapidly toward construction,” said Alicia Glen, co-chair of the commission. “Once this work starts, we expect that there will be no stopping the most urgent infrastructure project in the nation.”
Once the road bridge is completed, the actual digging of the tunnel is expected to begin in 2025. The new tunnel is scheduled to open 10 years later.
Work had begun on this plan in 2010, when Chris Christie, then-New Jersey governor, suddenly cancelled the project for fear of his state being responsible for cost overruns. If work had proceeded in 2010, the new tunnels would currently have been in use for several years.
The new tunnel will provide relief for the existing tubes that were flooded with saltwater when Hurricane Sandy swamped the metropolitan area in 2012. Amtrak, who owns the tunnels, has warned for years that the lingering effects of that flooding are threatening the region’s transportation network. If it was forced to close one of the original bores before the new ones are completed, Amtrak has said, rush-hour capacity for commuting in and out of New York City would be reduced by up to 75%.
“This is the start of the Hudson Tunnel Project, and we are not waiting for 2024,” Kris Kolluri, Gateway Commission chief executive, says. He states that work will be underway on five of nine parts of the Gateway project by the end of 2023.
With all the modern technology and modern construction methods and equipment at our disposal, things take longer to build and complete than it was years ago. It would seem that builders and workers just take longer so that they have a job or project to report to on a daily basis. The Hudson River Tunnels should have been built and in place serving riders by now instead of still debating and haggling over final designs and where the tunnels will exactly go and where to start digging not to mention the time consuming and politically motivated bidding process. It is silly to talk about and plan for a new Penn Station in New York when there are no new decent tunnels to connect to a new terminal. Perhaps we should hire the folks who built the tunnels under the English Channel connecting England and France. True, it took over 20 years but they got the job done and today people enjoy fast dependable service between London and Paris. Our European and Asian counterparts know how to build and get projects done in good order and in a timely matter as well as some of the greatest enginnering marvels in the world. In this country there is too much boondoggling, debate and stalling around before anything gets built and the only people beenfitting from these massive and avoidable delays and conflicts is politicans and the folks who draw up plans and do surveys that go nowhere.
Joseph C. Markfelder
Absolutely agree with all you posted, Mr. Rice. If it were within my power I’d pull the plug on CAHSR and use all monies still appropriated but as yet unspent to do all you recommend to do the Gateway project and do it right.
I’d tell all the folks who are drunk on the CAHSR kool-aid, especially NARP/RPA and their Chicago affiliate the High Speed Rail Alliance, no more taxpayer dollars for that money pit. You want it, Parallel Systems is in La La Land. Tell them to do it on their dime and then they can charge fares to cover the costs and give you a profit. No one will pay those ticket prices.
MARK — Missed your posts, haven’t seen you in a while. Let me tell you when I pulled the plug on NARP/ RPA. It’s when they advocated spending countless dollars on a rail connection between North and South Stations, Boston.
I was born in Boston, grew up mostly in suburbia. I’m old enough to remember the building of both highway projects (barely, the first one). First, the construction of the original John F. Fitzgerald Expressway. Second, the I-93 “Big Dig” which replaced the Honey Fitz.
There’s no way to build a rail link between North and South Stations. Believe me it can’t be done for any amount of money. NARP/ RPA should advocate for projects (1) that actually can be accomplished; and (2) are worth at least some countable fraction of what it would cost.
The previous plan was to connect to Penn Station, but as costs rose there were searches for money saving alternatives. By the time the dust settled the tunnels were to terminate apart from Penn Station, deep underground, with no connections to anything but a long elevator ride to the street. This made it virtually useless. For this reason it’s a good thing Christie killed it, but he then appropriated budgeted money to help New Jersey’s state budget. If I recall correctly, the state had to surrender some of it back to the federal government.
First, look on the bright side: Another posting today shows the Frederick Douglass Tunnel in Baltimore will take 12 years, WITHOUT going under a river.
The North River Tubes have flood gates at the Penn Station end. They were intended to protect the Station from an underwater breach but they can work both ways. There is a bowl at Penn Station but flooding the bowl floods the Station, as well as its signals and switch machines in dirty salt water. There are pumps in the tubes to dewater them. However the pumps use 60 Hz commercial power and Con Edison shut off the 60 Hz NY City power. No pumps. Amtrak has since addressed this issue with separate independent power sources, presumably part from the Jersey side.
Foot dragging. We need to resurrect early 20th century engineers and railroad leaders. From start of construction to finish, including the shafts, the PRR only took 7 years — and that was without some of the technology available today.
My memory is a little fuzzy on this, but wasn’t the project Gov. Christie halted aligned to bring the tracks under Macy’s department store, two or three blocks north of Penn Station, for NJT use exclusively? Correct me if I’m wrong.
I don’t think it was to go north of Penn Station, but rather further underneath. A key point is that the original project did not connect with the Washington to Boston line.
My memory is “a little fuzzy on this” as well. I remember this original project, named ARC (Access to the Region’s Core) did end at “Macy’s basement” but called for a single track connection to Penn Station. That connection was cut from the plans when the necessary grade up to NYP track level was deemed to steep.
After Christie killed ARC Amtrak came back with the Gateway tunnels plan we see today. But Gateway was competing for federal dollars and priority with NY Governor Andrew Cuomo’s preferred projects; a new Tappan Zee/I-87 bridge and massive upgrades at LGA and JFK. And the Obama administration proceeded to kick Gateway down the track with a deal that the someday the federal government would pay 50% and NY and NJ each 25%. Then the Obama/“Amtrak” Joe administration and their transportation department got solidly behind construction of the new Tappan Zee Bridge highway bridge and and the airport upgrades. The political winds blew and the liberal Dems chose the “fly/drive paradigm” over passenger rail. And that continues today here in “blue, blue, blue” Massachusetts where the “Northern Tier (Boston-North Adams) Study” goes nowhere and the well-publicized public meetings of the Western MA Rail Commission for “East/West” Passenger Rail (Boston-Pittsfield/Albany) have proven to be nothing but a lie, a sham, a charade and a clown show.
Please name the other more important projects and provide the rationale for the claims.
“Once this work starts, we expect that there will be no stopping the most urgent infrastructure project in the nation.”
Since covid and WFH, I wouldn’t classify it that high. Needed? Absolutely. The most important in the nation? Don’t want to get political, but I could think of some other more urgent infrastructure projects than 2 new tunnels under the Hudson. And don’t forget that Caltrans thinks the CalHSR qualifies under the same moniker.
I haven’t seen the plans, but lets hope this time they design and build appropriate portals that keep out flood waters so we don’t see a repeat. Kind of like a bowl that will redirect water away from the portal and a door that shuts to keep the water out, which hopefully they will add to the 1910 portal rehab.