NEW YORK — Following a 13-year delay, it appears construction will begin in October on the initial steps leading to a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River to Midtown Manhattan, according to a story in the New York Times.
The Gateway Program, which will address infrastructure needs on 10-miles of the Northeast Corridor, is a series of projects including two new tunnel bores under the Hudson River from New Jersey into Manhattan’s Penn Station. Once the new tunnels are in service, the current 1910 bores would be refurbished. [see, “Amtrak faces major price tag for next step in Gateway Tunnel project,” News Wire, May 3, 2023.]
Before tunnel boring can begin, Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, N.J., needs to be raised to clear the existing train tracks by 19 feet. Associated utilities also need to be moved. The clearance is required so that the tunnel boring equipment can be moved into place.
Conti Civil, from Edison, N.J., was awarded the contract for this work. The Gateway Development Commission, using a $25 million grant from the federal government, approved $47.3 million in contracts to raise the roadway and move utilities.
“The Hudson Tunnel Project is moving rapidly toward construction,” said Alicia Glen, co-chair of the commission. “Once this work starts, we expect that there will be no stopping the most urgent infrastructure project in the nation.”
Once the road bridge is completed, the actual digging of the tunnel is expected to begin in 2025. The new tunnel is scheduled to open 10 years later.
Work had begun on this plan in 2010, when Chris Christie, then-New Jersey governor, suddenly cancelled the project for fear of his state being responsible for cost overruns. If work had proceeded in 2010, the new tunnels would currently have been in use for several years.
The new tunnel will provide relief for the existing tubes that were flooded with saltwater when Hurricane Sandy swamped the metropolitan area in 2012. Amtrak, who owns the tunnels, has warned for years that the lingering effects of that flooding are threatening the region’s transportation network. If it was forced to close one of the original bores before the new ones are completed, Amtrak has said, rush-hour capacity for commuting in and out of New York City would be reduced by up to 75%.
“This is the start of the Hudson Tunnel Project, and we are not waiting for 2024,” Kris Kolluri, Gateway Commission chief executive, says. He states that work will be underway on five of nine parts of the Gateway project by the end of 2023.
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