US Senate Passes Additional Funding for Gateway Program

WASHINGTON—The US Senate passed a spending bill late last week that will provide additional funding for the State of New Jersey and particularly for the Gateway Program.

The US Senate on Thursday passed a spending bill that will provide a total of $86.2 billion to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which will help fund a number of key transportation priorities for New Jersey.

The package features $2 billion for Amtrak, including $700 million designated specifically for the Northeast Corridor, which represents an increase of $50 million over FY 2019 levels. The bill also includes $325 million for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program and $200 million for the State of Good Repair grants, which was threatened to be eliminated in President Trump’s budget. Both programs were co-authored by US Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) in the 2015 FAST Act and provide resources to upgrade aging railroad infrastructure that could help free up funds for the Gateway Program.

The bill also clarifies that federal loans made to states as part of the Capital Investment Grant program, which states must pay back with local dollars, do indeed count as part of the states’ share and contribution to a transportation project when calculating match requirements.

“The Gateway Program is the most pressing infrastructure project in our country and we know that should one of the tunnels shut down, the reverberations would be felt across the country’s economy,” Sen. Booker said. “While I wish there was more funding for this specific project included in the end-of-year spending bill, the increased funding for Amtrak and the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program will help provide critical transportation resources to New Jersey and the entire northeast corridor.”

Jerry Zaro, chairman and New Jersey Trustee of the Gateway Program, said the federal spending bill “is a strong statement of support for the Gateway Program.”

Zaro said that in addition to the increased funding other important steps, the legislation provides include vital reforms to the FTA’s Capital Investment Grant program, and clarifies that federal loans repaid with local dollars count as local share.

“We appreciate the support of our bi-partisan partners in Congress and look forward to continuing to work with them, the Administration, and all stakeholders to move Gateway to full construction for the benefit of New York, New Jersey and the nation,” he added.

Earlier this year, Richard Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, the project sponsor, sent a letter to the Federal Transit Administration requesting the Hudson Tunnel Project be included in the USDOT Fiscal Year 2021 budget.

In the letter to FTA Associate Administrator of Planning and Environment Felicia James, Cotton noted that the overall estimated cost of the construction of the project has been reduced from $12.7 billion ($11.1 billion cost for the tunnel replacement; $1.6 billion cost for rehabilitation to the existing North Tunnel) to a revised $11.3 billion total cost ($9.5 billion revised cost for the tunnel replacement; $1.8 billion revised cost for rehabilitation to the existing North Tunnel).

The Port Authority, Amtrak, the Gateway Program Development Corp., a well as the states of New York and New Jersey, are seeking a total of $4.361 billion in the Federal Transit Administrations CIG Program. Previously, the Gateway Tunnel stakeholders had been seeking $5.646 billion in federal grants for the project. The reduction in requested federal funding is directly related to the increase in funding Amtrak is now earmarking for the tunnel.

Total local commitment (Port Authority, New York and New Jersey) for construction costs related to the new Hudson River Rail Tunnel remained at $5.55 billion. The Port Authority in July 2018 committed $2.7 billion in support of the entire Hudson Tunnel project.