Buttigieg Pushes For Gateway Tunnel After Newark-To-NYC Trip

NEWARK, NJ — When U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg boarded a train at Newark Penn Station and traveled to New York City, he got a firsthand look at how thousands of New Jersey residents get to work every day.

And there’s no denying it, the former presidential candidate said afterwards: It’s time to get the Gateway Tunnel done.

Buttigieg joined a roster of other high-profile Democratic leaders on Monday to tour the century-old Hudson River Tunnel system, which connects New Jersey to New York and served about 200,000 riders a day before the coronavirus pandemic. The tunnel was severely damaged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and has long been considered one of the worst chokeholds plaguing the busy Northeast Corridor, which serves Amtrak and NJ Transit.

“Look no further than the Gateway Tunnel Project to demonstrate how imperative investing in our aging infrastructure is,” Buttigieg said.

“The impacts of this corridor are so great that if there were a loss of service – if one of these tunnels were to go out of service, you would be feeling the economic impact all the way back in Indiana, where I come from,” he added. “That's how important this is.”

Other officials at the event included Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, and U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer, Frank Pallone, Tom Malinowski, Donald Payne Jr. and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey.

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For years, officials and community groups have been trying to advance a major construction plan – the Gateway Tunnel – which would build a new, two-track Hudson River rail tunnel from New Jersey to Manhattan.

State officials in New Jersey and New York have been trying to secure federal funding for the project for years, and have offered to split the $11.6 billion cost with the U.S. government. But the Gateway Tunnel plan ground to a halt when former president Donald Trump refused to advance it without funding for a border wall with Mexico.

However, the project has recently been put back on track under President Joe Biden’s administration, which approved a key environmental impact statement that has been holding up the project in May.

Biden’s proposed budget increases two funding sources that could possibly help pay for the Gateway Tunnel. The proposed infrastructure package also allocates funding that could go toward the project, according to Schumer.

• See related article: Gateway Tunnel Advances; NJ Democrats Credit Biden Administration

“After years of fighting for the completion of the Gateway Tunnel, it's heartening to now have allies like President Biden and Secretary Buttigieg in the White House and Department of Transportation,” Sherrill said Monday.

“We have a once in a generation opportunity here, and I look forward to the day that we’re standing together cutting the ribbon on a completed Gateway Tunnel Project,” the congresswoman said.

Malinowski also thanked Buttigieg for recognizing the “urgent need” to build a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River.

“I’m grateful for his partnership in clearing the remaining obstacles to Gateway and working hard to pass an infrastructure bill that will fund the project on an accelerated timeline,” Malinowski said.

Other supporters of the project have included U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, who along with Booker, have blasted the Trump administration for delaying the project.

The Gateway Tunnel is one component of the larger Gateway Project, which would also include replacing the "functionally obsolete" Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River.

• See related article: Good News For One Of NJ's Most Hated Crossings: Portal Bridge
• See related article: Hudson River Tunnel Shutdown Would Hurt Families, Economy: Report

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