Gateway's Zaro welcomes House Transportation Funding Bill

David Hutter//May 23, 2019//

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Gateway Program Development Corp. Chairman Jerry Zaro welcomed the House Appropriations Committee Transportation Funding Bill.

Jerry Zaro, Gateway Development Corp. trustee, speaks at the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Transportation Summit in Hasbrouck Heights. – DANIEL J. MUNOZ

The bill includes several provisions that could benefit the Gateway Program including modifications to the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program, confirmation that TIFIA loans be counted as local share, availability of grant funding in the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair program and more.

The nonprofit Gateway is leading the planning of a $14.3 billion-plus infrastructure project to replace the 108-year-old Hudson River rail tunnels that connect New Jersey and New York City and the 108-year-old Portal Bridge, which spans the Hackensack River between Secaucus and Kearny. The bridge opens to allow ships to pass on the river and regularly becomes stuck, halting trains from Boston to Washington, D.C.

“We thank Chair Nita Lowey, Ranking Member Kay Granger, Chairman David Price, Ranking Member Mario Diaz-Balart, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman and their colleagues on the House Transportation, Housing & Urban Development Subcommittee for their support of and commitment to the Gateway Program,” Zaro said in a statement. “Gateway is the most urgent infrastructure need in the nation, and it’s clear that a bi-partisan coalition in Congress is taking action to respond and get our projects funded and built.”

The other local partners are New Jersey Transit, Amtrak, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. More than 200,000 people travel through the tunnels and across the bridge each day.

“We are eager to begin major construction on this vital program of national significance and appreciate the continued support and work of Members of Congress,” Zaro said.