Gateway Project Gains Funding Momentum In Congress
The effort to build a new cross-Hudson rail tunnel, a crucial part of the Gateway Project, gained considerable steam when the U.S. Senate joined the House in approving a transportation bill that contains several provisions designed to help fund the mammoth endeavor. The five-year, $305 billion surface transportation bill, which the president is expected to sign, allows Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor to keep its own profits, rather than having to use those profits to subsidize Am
NY & NJ Officials Create Corporation To Oversee Gateway Project
It's official, New York and New Jersey leaders announced that they have reached a general agreement on the sharing of funding commitments and a controlling structure that will allow the Gateway Project to move forward. The agreement is a milestone in the effort to build a new trans-Hudson river tunnel that is an essential portion of Amtrak’s eight-state Northeast Corridor that connects the states of New York and New Jersey and is one of our region’s most critical major infras
Agreement Forged by Federal-State Officials Gets Gateway On Track
Today, New York and New Jersey leaders announced that they have reached an agreement on funding commitments and a governance structure that will allow the critically important Gateway Project to move forward. According to POLITICO New York, the two states, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and federal officials are now hammering out a framework for a new entity dedicated solely to building the project. The agreement marks a major milestone in the effort to build a
A Closer Look at the Gateway Project
The two-tube concrete casing that preserves Amtrak’s right of way under the Hudson Yards development and the Long Island Rail Road yards west of Pennsylvania Station in July 2014, almost a year after construction began. The photograph shows how the parallel tubes, heavily reinforced with steel rods known as rebar, were built in an excavated open cut. A concrete ceiling was later poured over the cut, making the tubes invisible from above. They make a gentle southwesterly curve
Gateway Will Shape the Way NY Moves
As part the right-of-way project, Amtrak demolished and is rebuilding the Long Island Rail Road equipment maintenance shop where the east end of the concrete casing had to be excavated. Sam Hodgson for The New York Times In an era when infrastructure planning usually involves closing the barn door after the horse has left, and most civil engineering projects go begging for money, it is astonishing that the federal government and private developers have physically preserved a
Relief for Local Rail Woes Is Taking Shape in Concrete by the Hudson
The second phase of the Hudson Yards right-of-way preservation project is a relatively short extension directly below 11th Avenue. Having cleared the earth away, construction crews are now preparing to dig through solid rock. Credit Sam Hodgson for The New York Times There has been a lot of talk lately about the multibillion-dollar Gateway project, which would double the rail capacity into and out of Penn Station by adding a two-track tunnel under the Hudson River, and two br
Gateway Project: NJ Transit takes lead on environmental permits
Newark Transportation officials took the first step in getting the Gateway Project (Hudson River tunnel) off the ground, tasking NJ Transit with taking the lead on a major permit required for construction. NJ Transit’s board of directors authorized negotiations with Amtrak with the goal of drawing up a memorandum of understanding that would put the environmental permitting process in NJ Transit’s hands. “That is the first step to advancing a trans-Hudson tunnel program. Clear
Tour Amtrak's Future Tunnels Beneath Hudson Yards
As New York and New Jersey officials continue to work to make the trans-Hudson tunnels a reality, a major piece of the puzzle has quietly been coming together on the far West Side of Manhattan. Two boxes that will hold part of the tunnels have been built between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues between West 32nd and 33rd Streets, and the New York Times went below ground for a look at the new shells. Those boxes, built by Amtrak using Hurricane Sandy relief money, preserve the railr
Officials Want to Accelerate New Hudson River Tunnel Plans
Over the last few months, momentum has been growing for a new trans-Hudson River train tunnel, and it seems like things are actually going to start happening. The Times reports that federal transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said officials are "taking important initial steps to accelerate long-stalled plans" in order to "move as quickly as possible on preliminary work because of the deteriorating condition of the current tunnel." The steps include shortening the timeline f
NJ Transit moves ahead on Gateway Project environmental work
The giant endeavor to dig a new tunnel under the Hudson River took its first concrete step forward when the board of NJ Transit voted unanimously to lead a study of the project’s environmental impacts. The study, which is required by federal law, probably will cost millions of dollars and take several years, based on comparisons with similar projects in the past, but the actual cost and timeline remain unknown. NJ Transit officials said “It’s a step in the right direction,” s
