WEEHAWKEN NJ, Governor Phil Murphy today toured the North River Tunnel with state legislative leadership and members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation. The 108 year old North River Tunnel has been in disrepair and in dire need of replacement since extensive damage was caused by Hurricane Sandy.
“The rehabilitation of the existing North River Tunnel and construction of the new Hudson Tunnel is crucial to the tri-state area, and in particular New Jersey,” Governor Phil Murphy said. “It is time for the Trump administration to prioritize the needs of commuters and our nation’s economy, and commit to funding the Gateway Program.”
on December 08, 2016 at 6:28 AM, updated December 08, 2016 at 6:29 AM
You don’t need Wikipedia to tell you that New Jersey is the most densely populated state. Just go for a drive.
That brings up a question that hung over a joint legislative committee hearing on transportation Tuesday:
What will the effort to build transportation infrastructure look like under President Trump?
The Donald may have gotten elected with the votes from people who live in states where driving is a perfectly fine way of getting around. But he is a New Yorker and therefore congenitally inclined to understand the transportation needs of this part of the country.
The Donald’s No. 1 boast is that he knows how to get around the bureaucracy that stalls construction. In his 1987 book “The Art of the Deal,” Trump tells of how the city of New York began in 1980 to rebuild the Wollman ice-skating rink in Central Park but still had not completed it six years later.
“If it took me two and a half years to put up a major skyscraper,” he wrote, “surely it was possible to build a $2 million ice-skating rink in a matter of months.”
Trump took over the project and finished it in six months.
Compare that to the attitude of the many conflicting government entities that throttled the predecessor to Amtrak’s Gateway Project, which would add two new rail tunnels to Manhattan.
The original Access to the Region’s Core plan in the 1990s was to build two new tunnels that would be shared by NJ Transit and Amtrak trains.
Ridgewood NJ, The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and NJ TRANSIT invite the public to learn more about their recommendation for the Hudson Tunnel Project at two upcoming information sessions. During the meetings in November, the public will be able to learn more about the recommendation (Preferred Alternative) and the Environmental Impact Statement for the project.
The Preferred Alternative identifies a specific alignment that includes two new tracks extending from the Northeast Corridor in Secaucus, N.J., continuing in a tunnel beneath the Palisades, and beneath the Hudson River to connect to the existing approach tracks that lead into Penn Station New York, as well as rehabilitation of the existing North River Tunnel once the new tunnel is complete.
The first meeting will be held at the Secaucus Junction Rail Station, Upper Level Long Hallway in Secaucus, N.J. on Thursday, November 10, 2016.
The second meeting will be held at the Hotel Pennsylvania, Skytop Ballroom (18th Floor), in New York City on Thursday, November 17, 2016.
Both meetings will be held from 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM and will be in an open house format. Although there will be no formal presentations, project staff will be available to answer questions. See attached flyer.
The new tunnel would be constructed first, so that upon completion of construction, trains could be diverted from the existing tunnel to allow its rehabilitation. When the rehabilitation is complete, both the existing and new tunnels would be in service, providing redundant capability and increased operational flexibility for Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT.
The Project is intended to preserve the current functionality of the Northeast Corridor’s Hudson River rail crossing between New Jersey and New York and strengthen the resiliency of the Northeast Corridor. FRA and NJ TRANSIT have made a recommendation (identified a Preferred Alternative) that consists of a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River and rehabilitation of the existing Northeast Corridor Hudson River crossing, the North River Tunnel.
More information about the Hudson Tunnel Project, the upcoming meetings, and the Preferred Alternative is available at the Project website,www.hudsontunnelproject.com. Project staff may be contacted via the Project website as well, at www.hudsontunnelproject.com/contact.html.
By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on October 20, 2016 at 5:58 PM, updated October 20, 2016 at 5:59 PM
Tolls on the Port Authority’s bridges and tunnels will not be increased to help fund construction of new Hudson River rail tunnels, officials said Thursday after approving a financing plan for the Gateway Project.
Authority officials will discuss revising the agency’s 10-year capital plan next month to include Gateway, building a new Port Authority Bus Terminal and replacing the aging Newark Airport Monorail, said John Degnan, the board chairman.
Both Foye and Degnan said revising the capital plan won’t include a toll hike. The last toll hike took place last December as part of an increase that was phased-in over five years.
“The two governors said the Port Authority will take the lead for a financing plan,” Degnan said. “We’re not accepting that the Port Authority will pick-up the entire (local share of costs).”
The federal government and both states have agreed to a 50-50 financing plan for Gateway, but New York and New Jersey officials said they would turn to the Port Authority for some of that funding and to create a development corporation to apply for financing.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood commuters ,the Federal Railroad Administration and NJ TRANSIT are jointly preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the Hudson Tunnel Project. Two public meetings have been set up with will offer a presentation and take comments .
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and NJ TRANSIT are jointly preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the Hudson Tunnel Project. The Project is intended to preserve the current functionality of the Northeast Corridor’s (NEC) Hudson River rail crossing between New Jersey and New York and strengthen the resilience of the NEC. The Project would consist of construction of a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River, including railroad infrastructure in New Jersey and New York connecting the new rail tunnel to the existing NEC, and rehabilitation of the existing NEC tunnel beneath the Hudson River, referred to as the North River Tunnel.
The North River Tunnel is used by Amtrak for intercity passenger rail service and by NJ TRANSIT for commuter rail service. The approach to the tunnel begins east of NJ TRANSIT’s Frank R. Lautenberg Station in Secaucus, NJ (which is 5 miles east of Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT’s Newark Penn Station). East of the Secaucus station, the NEC has two tracks that approach the tunnel on a raised embankment through the towns of Secaucus and North Bergen, NJ. Tracks enter a tunnel portal in North Bergen, passing beneath Union City and Weehawken, NJ and the Hudson River before emerging within the Penn Station New York (PSNY) rail complex in New York City. The tunnel has two separate tubes, each accommodating a single track for electrically powered trains, and extends approximately 2.5 miles from the tunnel portal in North Bergen to PSNY. The existing North River Tunnel is a critical NEC asset and is the only intercity passenger rail crossing into New York City from New Jersey and areas west and south.
Service reliability throughout the tunnel has been compromised because of the damage to tunnel components caused by Superstorm Sandy, which inundated both tubes in the North River Tunnel with seawater in October 2012, resulting in the cancellation of all Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT service into New York City for five days. While the tunnel was restored to service and is now safe for travel, chlorides from the seawater remain in the tunnel’s concrete liner and bench walls, causing ongoing damage to the bench walls, imbedded steel, track, and signaling and electrical components.
The damage caused by Superstorm Sandy is compounded by the tunnel’s age and the intensity of its current use (operating at capacity to meet current demands), resulting in frequent delays due to component failures within the tunnel.
Public Scoping Meetings
FRA and NJ TRANSIT will hold two public scoping meetings on the following dates:
May 17, 2016
Hotel Pennsylvania
Gold Ballroom, 3rd Floor
401 Seventh Avenue at West 33rd Street
New York, NY
May 19, 2016
Union City High School
2500 Kennedy Boulevard
Union City, NJ
Both days will include an afternoon session from 3 to 5 PM with a brief presentation about the Project at 4 PM, and an evening session from 6 to 8 PM with a brief presentation about the Project at 7 PM. The public will be able to review Project information, talk informally with members of the study staff, and formally submit comments to the FRA (to a stenographer or in writing). The meeting facilities will be accessible to persons with disabilities. Spanish language translators will be present. If special translation or signing services or other special accommodations are needed, please contact the Project team five days prior to the meeting at 973-261-8115, or email team@hudsontunnelproject.com.
Unlike the ARC tunnel the Gov Christie cancelled the Gateway Project will go direct to Penn Station and will not be entirely funded by NJ tax payers
N.J. lawmakers present a united front for new rail tunnel
JANUARY 4, 2015, 10:32 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2015, 10:39 PM
BY HERB JACKSON
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD
With both houses of Congress about to be controlled by Republicans, whose hard-liners denounce expensive federal projects as wasteful pork and have banned lawmakers from earmarking funds for pet projects, a bipartisan delegation from New Jersey is gearing up to win support for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River.
Both Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat, and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, a Republican, said they are hopeful they can get a commitment at least to start Amtrak’s Gateway project when Congress takes up a multiyear transportation financing bill next spring.
Frelinghuysen, of Harding, said he thought the chances of some success are “pretty good.” Menendez, of Paramus, said he was “cautiously optimistic.”
“I’m not saying it’ll be the whole kit and caboodle … but once we are committed to the project, then we have a better chance to ensure its totality,” Menendez said.
Rail access to New York City has taken on a new urgency following Amtrak’s revelation last year that the existing two-track tunnel, built 104 years ago, will fail within 20 years because of damage from Superstorm Sandy flooding. Before then, delays will become common for Amtrak and NJ Transit, which uses Amtrak’s Hudson tunnel, because of periodic closures to stabilize it.
Gateway calls for a new two-track tunnel under the river and other construction, including new or rebuilt bridges in the Meadowlands, to provide four tracks between Newark and New York City. The next few months will be critical in determining whether the project moves off the drawing board, because Congress faces a May deadline for a new transportation bill.
