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During its April board meeting Tuesday, the Gateway Development Commission (GDC) announced it recently submitted all documents toward grant funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP).

On March 30, the GDC transmitted the last of its Critical Third-Party Agreements – with support of partners Amtrak, NJ Transit and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey – to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The final documents are required to reach a Full-Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) for $6.88 billion in Capital Investment Grants (CIG) Program funding for HTP.

The project has been described as the nation’s most critical infrastructure initiative. It has the largest federal funding commitment for a mass transit project in modern history. The GDC says this step marks the culmination of 20 months of work, setting the stage for HTP to secure a total $16 billion by June 2024 for its full delivery.

“Over the last 20 months, we have worked diligently to meet every milestone without missing a single submission deadline established in the roadmap,” GDC Chief Executive Officer Kris Kolluri wrote in a March 30 letter to the FTA. “Today’s submission represents the last milestone in the roadmap and puts GDC on a glidepath to secure a $6.88 billion CIG FFGA for the HTP.

“We are cognizant that the nature and pace of our submissions over these many months, while unprecedented, would not have happened without the technical assistance and support we received from the FTA,” Kolluri said.

Making progress

The GDC noted in that letter and document submission that, since 2022, it transmitted 16 submittals to the FTA (six management plans, a robust financial plan, and the completion of critical agreements).

With the support of partners, it also completed a total of 43 agreements, including: six Utility Relocation Agreements; four Real Estate Agreements; 10 Regulatory Compliance Permits; eight Programmatic and Labor-related Agreements; and 11 Project Funding Agreements.

“GDC and FTA have worked hand-in-hand to secure a historic investment in this vital tunnel,” said Alicia Glen, New York GDC commissioner and co-chair; Balpreet Grewal-Virk, New Jersey GDC commissioner and co-chair; and Tony Coscia, Amtrak commissioner and vice chair, in a joint statement. “Today, we can confidently say that a Full-Funding Grant Agreement to guarantee the Hudson Tunnel Project’s future is on its way.”

“The HTP is the most urgent infrastructure project in the nation. If even one of the two tubes in the current 113-year-old North River Tunnel must undergo a planned shutdown for rehabilitation, without a new tunnel in place, there will be a 75% reduction in rail service linking New York-New Jersey to the rest of the Northeast Corridor (NEC),” Kolluri continued. “The HTP will improve resiliency, reliability, and redundancy for the most congestion section of the NEC, the busiest passenger rail line in the United States. HTP will provide approximately 72,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs and $19 billion in economic activity created over the HTP’s construction period.”

At work

This action marks continued momentum for this major project. Other recent announcements include the awarding of a contract for a project delivery partner and the first heavy construction award.

Additionally, GDC installed a EarthCam at the Tonnelle Avenue construction to show daily progress.

Construction is active on both sides of Hudson River. GDC says it expects to award additional contracts for work on the Palisades and Manhattan Tunnels before the end of 2024.

At the meeting, Patrick McCoy was also appointed chief financial officer of the GDC.