The governors of New York and New Jersey have signed an agreement detailing how the two states will fund their portion of the Northeast Corridor’s Gateway bridge and tunnel projects.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy addresses funding for the Portal North bridge over the Hackensack River in New Jersey and the Gateway Tunnel project to build two new tunnels between New Jersey and New York’s Penn Station, then rehabilitate the existing bores.
The federal government will provide approximately 60% of the funding for the bridge project; the states will split the remaining cost 50-50. They will also evenly split their portion of the tunnel project.
“The Gateway Hudson Tunnel Project is vital to the Northeast corridor, and today’s announcement is a critical step forward in turning this vision into reality,” Hochul said in a press release. “By signing the Phase One Memorandum of Understanding, we are establishing the framework to get this project over the finish line and are making good on our promise to modernize the state’s transportation infrastructure and create a mass transit system worthy of New Yorkers.” Murphy called the agreement “a pivotal milestone toward the completion of the most significant transportation project not just in New Jersey, but in the entire United States.”
NJ.com reports the agreement is a major step toward completing federal funding this year, which could allow construction of the tunnel to begin in 2023, although a former Federal Transit Administration official told the news site that the funding agreement might not be completed until 2024 because of its complexity.
How about it’s a start?
While the Hudson Tunnel Project would double the number of tracks under the Hudson River, it would not result in an increase in rail capacity due to constraints at Penn Station.
It is well-known that Penn Station operates at capacity during peak periods, and since it takes a long time for passengers to board and disembark trains, units cannot leave and enter the station as might otherwise be possible.
Even with improvements in the station, there are inadequate train storage facilities at Penn Station, and there is no capacity in the East River Tunnels to allow for trains to be stored during middays at Sunnyside Yard. Without these additional improvements, it is assumed that the same number of trains going between New York and New Jersey today would be operating in 2030, although with the supplementary tunnel capacity.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
The main reason for the new tunnels is to be able to continue running trains when the current tunnels start crumbling faster than they can be repaired. Without them, current train traffic under the Hudson is running on borrowed time.
The construction unions are salivating. More over-staffing, triple pay for overtime, no-show jobs, all of the typical NY & NJ contract “goodies” that run up the costs and completion time of any infrastructure project by 3X.
I’m glad that Governor Murphy thinks the agreement is “a pivotal milestone toward the completion of the most significant transportation project not just in New Jersey, but in the entire United States.” As opposed to California High Speed Rail project which is nothing more than a boondoggle.