New York Gateway Tunnel project is awarded largest ever federal transportation grant

A $6.88 billion federal grant was awarded for the construction of the Gateway project in New York City, on July 6.

The Gateway Program involves the expansion and renovation of the Northeast Corridor rail line, which connects New York and New Jersey.

More specifically, a major existing problem is that the current rail tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey was built in the 1910s and sustained heavy damage during 2012 Superstorm Sandy.

This piece of rail tunnel has a daily traffic of 200,000 commuters, according to Reuters, and the recently funded project aims for the construction of a new one adjacent to it, as well as rehabilitating the existing one.

Discussion about the need for an alternative to the more than a century-old tunnel under the Hudson began more than ten years ago, but disputes over the needed budget led the project to a halt.

It is estimated by the US Transportation Department that the project will come at a total cost of $17.18 million.

The approval of this federal funding means that the project will finally enter an engineering phase and construction is expected to start in 2024.

New York and New Jersey are expected to finance about half the project’s budget, while the awarded grant is the largest ever awarded to a mass-transit project.