Transportation officials: Gateway is 'most urgent project in America'

Officials behind Amtrak’s $13 billion Gateway plan, which includes building a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, on Friday said they were confident they’ll get much-needed federal backing for the “most urgent project in America,” despite growing opposition from the Trump administration.

Gateway project officials made their case for the plan at a Manhattan meeting Friday morning, just hours after the malfunction of the century-old Portal Bridge across the Hackensack River snarled the commutes of thousands of New Jersey rail passengers traveling to Penn Station. Gateway executive director John Porcari said the incident served as a reminder of the need to address “single points of failure” in the region’s busy rail network, and the far-ranging consequences of not doing so.

“This is not just a local impact. When we have these issues, it ripples though the region, and in fact, the nation as well,” Porcari said at a meeting of the Gateway Development Corporation — a consortium of representatives from different transportation agencies responsible for the project.

Project officials say they’ve already made considerable progress in advancing Gateway, in part by securing a commitment from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for $5.5 billion — nearly half the projected cost of the tunnel — and by designing and getting the permits to rebuild the Portal Bridge.

Although the new tunnel would be used exclusively by NJ Transit and Amtrak, officials have said Long Island Rail Road commuters would stand to benefit as well, in part because problems in and around the existing Hudson tunnels often result in the LIRR being forced to scale down service at Penn to free up capacity for its neighbor railroads. Future phases of Gateway would have a more direct benefit for LIRR riders, including by adding new tracks and platforms to Penn.

The immediate fate of the project may hang on whether the project is included in a congressional spending bill up for a vote next week. Project officials are looking to fund the other half of the tunnel project through a federal grant.

President Donald Trump, who could veto that so-called omnibus spending bill, has signaled his opposition to Gateway. His representatives have said it primarily benefits local transit riders in the New York metropolitan region.Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), a Gateway supporter, said he had a “very tense conversation” with Trump on Thursday about the project, and made it clear he would vote against the spending bill if it was not included.

“It’s going to be the president’s decision. And if the president wants it, it’s going to be in the bill,” King said. “Obviously, if the president continues to be against it, that’s going to be a real problem. There’s no doubt about it.”

Even if Congress doesn’t fund the Amtrak megaproject in the near future, Gateway Development Corporation chairman Steven Cohen said eventually securing federal funding for it is an “inevitability,” because of the national importance of the project and the fragile state of the existing 107-year-old Hudson rail tunnels.

“This is not a project that would be done, could be done or should be done without federal support,” Cohen said. “I’m confident that it’s going to happen, because it has to happen. And it will happen. How that is played out and how that is carried out, I’m not exactly sure yet.”

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.