Gateway tunnel project beneath Hudson to get key boost with $6.9 billion federal grant

NEW YORK — U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer peered over the edge of the Hudson rail yards and politely yelled at the rail workers below to quiet down for a few minutes. He had an important announcement to make, and he needed everyone to hear it.

The Senate majority leader announced that his passion project — funding the $16.1 billion Gateway project to build a new tunnel that would carry rail lines beneath the Hudson River from New Jersey into Manhattan — had reached the next step, securing a $6.88 billion federal grant.

The new tunnel is needed, project backers say, because the existing tunnels that carry two rail lines beneath the Hudson — which date to 1910 — were drastically compromised by Superstorm Sandy and must be repaired. Once the new tunnel is finished, the old tunnels can be shut one at a time for vital restoration.

Schumer, who represents New York, has fought to get this project moving for more than a decade since then-Gov. Chris Christie canceled the predecessor ARC tunnel project in 2010, through multiple presidents including former President Donald Trump, who slowed progress. Today, Schumer remains the leading political figure shoving all the parties in the same direction.

“We have to do this quickly because these are hundred-year-old tunnels,” said Schumer, who also doesn’t want another election to get in the way of what he calls the most important infrastructure project in the country. “That’s why we’re rushing to get the money now, so we get it under a friendly administration.”

Gateway tunnel: Project gets $25M to kick-start construction on NJ side

With the project entering the engineering phase, after Federal Transit Administration approval, the Gateway Development Commission will have access to much of the new grant money to advance the project. An official grant agreement between the GDC — the bistate agency leading the project design and oversight — and the FTA is not expected to be finalized until next year.

Early construction work

Early construction work is getting started thanks to other federal grants, of $25 million and $292 million, on the New Jersey and New York sides of the Hudson River where the new tunnel entrances will go.

Commuters on the Northeast Corridor — who ride Amtrak and NJ Transit trains — have dealt with years of delays and cancellations on the busiest route of track in the country as a direct result of age, Superstorm Sandy and a lack of investment. This week alone has been a hellish one for those train riders, who have dealt with hours-long delays and cancellations because of wire issues and broken-down trains.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has provided historic levels of investment opportunity for projects like Gateway and others related to train improvements on the corridor.

“The Hudson tunnel project’s acceptance into the engineering phase of the Capital Investment Grant program has been years in the making, and we are thrilled to be even closer to the start of major construction on this critical Gateway Program project,” said Laura Mason, executive vice president of capital delivery at Amtrak.

The FTA’s approval to enter engineering indicates the agency is satisfied that the GDC has adequate expertise and framework in place to manage the project.

“The FTA is endorsing the work that GDC and our partners have done to assure billions in local funding, advance the project and demonstrate that we will responsibly ensure it gets built,” said Balpreet Grewal-Virk, co-chair of the GDC.

Key new hires for the Gateway project

In recent months, the agency made several big hires including Jim Morrison, an engineer who will be its chief technical officer. Prior to this, Morrison was the vice president and engineering chief for tunneling and geotechnical engineering at STV, an engineering consulting firm. The company has worked on a water supply tunnel between Queens and Brooklyn and flood resiliency work on the Holland Tunnel.

Kiran Patel was hired from NJ Transit to be the GDC’s deputy chief technical officer for surface alignment. Two other deputy positions related to tunneling will likely be filled later this summer.

The GDC has also narrowed down a list to three potential project delivery partners, and they will receive a request for proposal this summer, with a final choice expected next year. This partner, a private firm, will do the vast amount of design and engineering, with oversight and consultation with the GDC, a young agency that is still in its first year and will employ a staff of only about 30 people.

Through the partnership with an established firm, the technical work will largely be done by a company that has vast resources and expertise.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Gateway tunnel project will get $6.9 billion federal boost