Media Contact
Abby Kozlowski
On Tuesday in New York City, President Biden formally announced a $292 billion grant to help complete an early phase of the Hudson Tunnel project, part of the much-anticipated Gateway Project.
Rick Geddes
Professor, Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy
Rick Geddes, professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell University and founding director of the Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy, says that the Gateway Project is one of the country’s most important infrastructure projects today.
Geddes says:
“The Hudson Tunnel project is part of the long-planned and much-needed Gateway Program. The Gateway is a network of projects that will replace 113-year-old rail tunnels under the Hudson River, which are owned by Amtrak. Officials in both New York and New Jersey have been planning the rail tunnel replacement project for nearly a decade. The current tunnels were damaged by Hurricane Sandy and cannot be repaired until new tunnels are built.
“The $292 million grant is just a small portion of the estimated $16.1 billion cost of the overall project. The grant money will go toward completing the final section of a critical concrete casing near Hudson Yards on the project’s Manhattan side.
“The current rail tunnels receive very heavy use by New Jersey Transit trains and others during peak commuting times between New York and New Jersey. The Gateway Project is easily the nation’s most important regional and national infrastructure megaproject today.”
