WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-N.J.) today joined President Joe Biden and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to announce the award of $292 million for the Gateway project to create a concrete casing near Hudson Yards in Manhattan intended to preserve future right-of-way for the new Hudson River tunnel and lay the groundwork for the much-anticipated Hudson River tunnel project. Once completed, this vital infrastructure project will improve NJ Transit commute times, Amtrak reliability in the Northeast Corridor, and support the regional economy, while creating 72,000 direct and indirect jobs.

 

The Gateway tunnel project would repair the existing Hudson River tunnel and build a new one for Amtrak and NJ Transit commuter lines between New Jersey and New York, which will have an overall positive impact on the Northeast Corridor regional economy, home to 17% of the U.S. population. The current tunnels are 112 years old and were severely damaged by Super storm Sandy in 2012.

 

“It was twelve years ago — almost to the day — when I joined Amtrak officials and then-Senator Frank Lautenberg to unveil our plan for a new railway link between the Garden State and the Empire State. Our journey since that first press conference in 2011 has been long and winding, but today, we’re getting it done,” said Sen. Menendez. “This stretch of track is truly the economic lifeblood of our country, a region that contributes more than $3 trillion to our national GDP every year. But beyond completing this project, it’s about communities who will enjoy cleaner air and safer, more reliable service and about commuters who will spend more time at home and less time waiting for a delayed train.”           

 

 

The new national infrastructure project assistance discretionary grant program, often called the Mega Grant program and created by 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, funds projects that are too large or complex for traditional funding programs. Eligible projects include highway, bridge, freight, port, passenger rail, and public transportation projects that are a part of one of the other project types.

 

Last August, Sens. Menendez and Booker joined Governor Phil Murphy and Secretary Buttigieg to celebrate the official physical groundbreaking of the new Portal North Bridge. Construction of the new Portal North Bridge will greatly reduce gridlock caused by critical operation and maintenance issues of the existing 110-year-old swing bridge and improve service, reliability, and capacity for rail travel along the Northeast Corridor.

 

 ###