When the existing two-tube, trans-Hudson rail tunnel connecting New Jersey to New York’s Pennsylvania Station opened in August 1910, William Taft was president of the United States. It is fair to say 114 years later, that additional trans-Hudson tunnels are needed. They were needed long ago.
On Monday, the promise of building two new tunnels became reality with the official signing of a Full Funding Grant Agreement between the Gateway Development Commission (GDC) and the Federal Transit Administration for $6.88 billion in federal funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project and the closing on additional loans totaling $4.06 billion to fund the local share of this transformational project.
The GDC now has secured the entire $16 billion commitment it needed to complete the tunnel project. The roughly $12 billion in total federal funding is the largest federal funding commitment to a rail project in modern history.
The remaining $4 billion will come from the states of New York and New Jersey and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, with the Port Authority committed to $2.7 billion of that total.
At a time when doing big things seems nearly impossible, this is remarkable because Gateway – as the rail project is commonly referred to – is not big. It is monumental. The benefits are not decades away – 95,000 related, good-paying jobs will be created.
The core mission of the Port Authority is to move the region. But to the average person, moving the region is an abstract concept. What they want is a reliable commute – they want the Port Authority, NJ Transit, Amtrak, and other peer regional transportation agencies to ensure that they are literally moved from home to work and back again reliably each day.
The region’s infrastructure network is both a marvel and aging. That is why the Port Authority has invested historic amounts of funding in the region’s three major airports, in bridges and tunnels, at the seaport, at PATH, and in the planning of a new Midtown Bus Terminal.
When one of the region’s infrastructure systems fails, it impacts all the others. When train service is suspended going to and from New York Pennsylvania Station – a too-often occurrence – commuters still need to get home and get to jobs and the current, aging two-tube, trans-Hudson rail tunnel is no longer reliable. Severely damaged during Superstorm Sandy, it needs extensive repairs that will require the closure of both tubes. If that were to happen without a new set of tunnels, it would be catastrophic, impacting daily routines and crippling the region’s economy.
Monday’s finalization of the full funding for Gateway moves the region closer to a day when additional tunnel capacity exists. It is a triumph of governmental connectivity, two words not often put together. But there are moments when governments on the federal, state, and local levels focus on a single goal and achieve great things. This is such a moment.
It is a testament to the commitment of the federal government, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Amtrak, the leaders of the states of New York and New Jersey, and the GDC.
It is also a testament to many of the extraordinary people of the Port Authority, particularly in Procurement, who helped provide their expertise to the nascent Gateway Development Commission, giving it the benefits of our Agency’s institutional knowledge in bidding and building infrastructure on such a scale.
And equally important, the team in Major Capital Projects. The lessons we, at the Port Authority, learned in rebuilding the World Trade Center, as well as at our other large-scale infrastructure projects, put the Port Authority in a unique position to share what it knows so that the GDC can fulfill its mission. As the project advances, Engineering will also provide support.
The Port Authority’s expertise will continue to help guide the construction of the “core and shell” of the two new tunnels.
We connect the region by connecting people. We also connect the region by connecting other government agencies.
As someone who has spent his adult life in public service, Monday’s event brings me great satisfaction because it shows that government can do the people’s business when it focuses on common goals. What seemed impossible, is more than possible – it is happening.
This month, construction will start in the Hudson River. The proverbial train is finally leaving the station. And not a moment too soon.
Kevin J. O’Toole is the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.