(Bloomberg) — A long-delayed $16 billion rail tunnel project bridging New York City and New Jersey just scored its final piece of federal funding.
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The Federal Railroad Administration provided the Gateway Development Commission’s program with $3.8 billion in aid — the last portion of a $12 billion federal contribution granted to the Hudson Tunnel project, according to a statement seen by Bloomberg. About $1.9 billion of the grant will be available immediately.
The project is meant to ease congestion underneath the Hudson River by adding a new tunnel and making upgrades to the current rail tunnel, which is more than 100 years old. The new tunnel is expected to be in service by 2035 and the full rehabilitation of the existing tunnel will be complete by 2038.
“With this dramatic infusion of immediately available cash, GDC is well-prepared to execute the next phase of major construction,” GDC Chief Executive Officer Kris Kolluri said in a statement, adding the commission is planning to start tunnel boring this year.
GDC now has $2.7 billion in grant funds immediately ready to deploy for construction on the Hudson Tunnel Project, thanks to $800 million in other grants.
The project’s sponsors, which had been rushing to get a full funding agreement in place ahead of the November presidential election, closed it in July. Politics have derailed the effort in the past. In 2010, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie canceled the project, saying the state couldn’t afford it. The Gateway project was proposed a year later but eventually stalled under the Trump administration.
“After many false starts and obstacles placed in our way, Gateway is full speed ahead with billions from FTA ready to go and be used for critical work and construction,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “Gateway’s future is assured and the most important public works project in America is all systems go.”
(Updates with statement from Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer in the final paragraph.)
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