New York’s $29.5BN Mega-Tunnel

new york city is the largest urban area in the united states home to 8.2 million people and a gdp of approximately 1.1 trillion u.s dollars five percent of the nation's total in slightly less than all of mexico it is the region's center in a vital part of the us economy however over the decades much of new york city's transport infrastructure has deteriorated and is now largely deficient one key example of this is the city's sole amtrak train line between manhattan and new jersey which travels underneath the hudson river every day 450 trains use the link running at full capacity and transporting 200 000 commuters to and from the city this train line combined with the hectic penn station in manhattan serves as a bottleneck right at the center of amtrak's northeast corridor constraining transportation along the vital economic region and unfortunately the link is also very outdated the north river tunnels under the hudson which were built between 1904 and 1908 by the pennsylvania railroad are quickly deteriorating in october 2012 superstorm sandy flooded the tunnels with salt water corroding concrete walls and damaging electrical systems ever since then the tunnel structures have been quickly degrading and their high voltage cables have been failing with increasing frequency causing major delays furthermore seven kilometers to the east of this trains cross over the portal bridge a 112 year old swingspan bridge that frequently breaks down whenever it opens for ships to pass causing further delays and commuter chaos recognizing the need for a replacement in february 2011 amtrak president joseph boardman along with new jersey senators frank lautenberg and robert menendez unveiled the gateway program a multi-billion dollar proposal to expand and renovate the vital new jersey manhattan train link however with little urgency the project remained on hold then after superstorm sandy hit in 2012 the project's relevancy increased in 2015 the obama administration dubbed gateway the most vital piece of needed infrastructure in the u.s and agreed to cover 50 of its cost in november 2016 the gateway program development corporation was established and in july 2017 a draft environmental impact statement was released however the corporation's request for funding was soon denied by the trump administration who did not merit the project high enough to receive federal support so for several years the project remained on standstill then in january 2021 after president joe biden was inaugurated into office his administration quickly raised the project's priority to medium-high making it eligible for federal funding from the capital investment grants program and in may 2021 the biden administration granted it environmental clearance [Music] the gateway program consists of several different projects situated between penn station and manhattan in newark penn station in new jersey the first and foremost is the 12.4 billion dollar hudson tunnel it will consist of two machine board rail tunnels under the hudson river just south of the current ones these will connect to penn station and manhattan and link up with the north river tunnels just west of weehawken two more train tracks will be added extending 11 kilometers southwest to newark penn station along this route several projects will improve the current infrastructure the portal bridge will be replaced with two new bridges for the current and new train tracks costing 1.8 billion dollars each they will be tall enough for ships to pass under allowing for uninterrupted passenger flow just west of this the sawtooth rail bridges will also receive a one billion dollar upgrade in secaucus the frank laudenburg station will receive a 1.8 billion dollar expansion and the 1.3 billion dollar bergen loop will be built allowing 1c train service from the pascak valley bergen and main train lines directly into new york city in manhattan penn station will receive a 5.9 billion dollar expansion featuring a new 250 000 square foot single level facility with new tracks platforms and passenger concourses lastly the north river tunnels and train tracks will be fully rehabilitated to tip top working shape altogether the gateway program will cost a total of 29.5 billion us dollars drastically improving the region's transport infrastructure the gateway program will provide some major benefits for the new york new jersey metropolitan area first of all it will double rail capacity across the hudson from 24 to 48 trains per hour second its construction will create over 70 000 jobs and generate an estimated 19 billion dollars in economic benefits while preventing further degradation of the current system local property values will rise and commuters will have a new reliable and expanded train service to rely on this will ease congestion and decrease commuter stress increasing the quality of life for thousands of people furthermore the project will serve as a major upgrade to amtrak's northeast corridor line which runs from washington dc to boston a region that hosts 17 percent of the u.s population and generates 20 percent of the nation's gdp the project with its modern infrastructure will enable the construction of a next-gen high-speed rail network along the eastern seaboard that amtrak hopes to get running by 2040. maybe most importantly though it will prevent a commuter crisis if the hudson tunnel isn't built the north river tunnels will inevitably have to be shut down for several years of repair this closure would force displaced rail commuters onto the highways worsening the already terrible congestion and adding an estimated 2 million tons of co2 into the atmosphere equivalent to 2.6 million people flying between new york city and san francisco for many people though this predicament would completely cut off their access to jobs in manhattan costing the nation an estimated 16 billion dollars in economic damage finally further out the closure would slash the northeast corridor right at its heart increasing airline traffic and fares along the region since it received environmental clearance in may 2021 the gateway program has advanced significantly in june 2021 u.s secretary of transportation pete buttigieg visited the north river tunnels and seeing their dilapidated state called for urgent action in october 2021 the first phase of the project commenced with construction starting on the first portal bridge replacement then in december 2021 the army corps of engineers granted the hudson tunnel its required construction permit concluding the final regulatory hurdle in february 2022 geotechnical studies for the hudson tunnel were finished which included 75 earth samples from both sides of the river as of june 2022 the gateway corporation is working to obtain a 5.6 billion dollars in federal grants for the tunnel through the bipartisan infrastructure law which is currently being negotiated in the senate amtrak new jersey and new york have agreed to cover the rest if all goes to plan everything will be ready and construction on the tunnel will begin in august 2023 the whole project is scheduled to take at least eight years opening sometime in the 2030s still though the political hurdles are omnipresent obtaining 30 billion dollars in funding is an enormous task and a simple change in administration could completely reverse progress hopefully through persistence and cooperation these obstacles will be tackled and the gateway program will finally come to fruition if you enjoyed this video it would be amazing if you like and subscribe to futurology for more videos very similar to this one thanks for watching and see you next time

Channel: Futurology

Views: 389,967

Keywords: Gateway program, new york city, amtrak, northeast corridor, north river tunnels, portal bridge, infrastructure, megaproject, usa, future, futurology

Id: ZMWzTbX2emI

Length: 8min 5sec (485 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 12 2022