Gateway environmental study continues despite missed deadline

Though it missed a self-imposed March 31 deadline to secure federal approval for the Gateway Program’s environmental impact study, the Gateway Program Development Corp. is working closely with the U.S. Department of Transportation and other stakeholders to complete the review on the Hudson Tunnel Project as quickly as possible, said John D.Though it missed a self-imposed March 31 deadline to secure federal approval for the Gateway Program’s environmental impact study, the Gateway Program Development Corp. is working closely with the U.S. Department of Transportation and other stakeholders to complete the review on the Hudson Tunnel Project as quickly as possible, said John D. Porcari, interim executive director New Jersey-based organization created to manage the program.

The project, which some have estimated could cost more than $20 billion, calls for constructing a new tunnel under the Hudson River into New York to expand rail capacity in the region. But before that can happen, the existing Portal North Bridge will be replaced and a two-track fixed bridge will be added on the Portal South Bridge between Kearny and Secaucus.

“Rehabilitation of the 107-year-old, [Hurricane] Sandy-damaged North River Tunnel on which 450 trains and 200,000 daily commuters rely, is the most urgent infrastructure project in America,” Porcari said.  “We must act without delay to eliminate this single point of failure that would ripple throughout the national economy.”