Bergen County Executive Tedesco Gets Rare Look at the $16 Billion Hudson Tunnel Project

Future of Commuting is Here: Bergen County Executive Tours Gateway Tunnel Site—See Why This $16B Project is the Nation’s Most Critical Infrastructure Upgrade

photos courtesy of Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Hackensack NJ, the massive Gateway Program, dubbed the single most critical infrastructure project in the entire country, is moving full steam ahead. To underscore its importance to North Jersey commuters, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco recently took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Hudson Tunnel Project with the Gateway Development Commission (GDC).

The visit highlighted the sheer scale of the construction underway to replace the dilapidated, 115-year-old North River Tunnels—the backbone of the entire Northeast Corridor (NEC).

Why Gateway is “Essential” for New Jersey

The Gateway Program is far more than just a repair job; it is a vital economic resilience project. The current two-tube North River Tunnel, heavily damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, is a major source of delays for over 200,000 daily Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT riders.

A sudden, catastrophic failure of just one tube could cut trans-Hudson rail capacity by up to 75%, potentially costing the U.S. economy billions of dollars and crippling the workforce of the New York/New Jersey region.

“Let me be clear: this is the most critical infrastructure project in the entire country,” said County Executive Tedesco. “Modernizing and expanding this system isn’t optional—it’s essential for millions of commuters and for the economic health of our region.”

Project by the Numbers: Creating Jobs, Doubling Resilience

The Hudson Tunnel Project is the cornerstone of the larger Gateway Program, which is essentially seven major projects combined. The effort is a massive partnership between the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and the GDC, with an estimated total cost of $16 billion.

Project Details & Timeline:

• Scope: Construction of an entirely new, two-tube tunnel under the Hudson River, requiring nearly five miles of tunnel boring.

• Capacity & Resilience: Once completed, the NEC will have four modern, reliable tracks connecting New Jersey and New York, where there are currently only two.

• Timeline: The new tunnel is scheduled to open in 2035. Rehabilitation of the existing North River Tunnels will be completed sequentially, with all work slated for completion by 2038.

• Economic Impact: The construction phase alone is projected to create and support over 95,000 jobs and generate billions in economic activity for the region.

A Collaborative Effort

The County Executive expressed his thanks to Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese for the invitation, emphasizing the inspirational nature of seeing the project’s complexity firsthand.

With construction actively underway on components like the Tonnelle Avenue Bridge and the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing, the project is rapidly advancing. Bergen County residents, who rely heavily on NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak, can be assured that the work to secure the region’s commuter lifeline is continuing to move forward, safeguarding the future of the Northeast Corridor.

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