The North River Tunnel under theHudson River connects New York and New Jersey and carries Amtrakand NJ TRANSIT passengers making 200,000 daily trips. Photo Credit:Gateway Program Development Corp.

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

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

The package features $2 billion for Amtrak, including $700million designated specifically for the Northeast Corridor, whichrepresents an increase of $50 million over FY 2019 levels. The billalso includes $325 million for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructureand Safety Improvements Program and $200 million for the State ofGood Repair grants, which was threatened to be eliminated inPresident Trump's budget. Both programs were co-authored by USSenator Cory Booker (D-NJ) in the 2015 FAST Act and provideresources to upgrade aging railroad infrastructure that could helpfree up funds for the Gateway Program.

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

"The Gateway Program is the most pressinginfrastructure project in our country and we know that should oneof the tunnels shut down, the reverberations would be felt acrossthe country's economy," Sen. Booker said. "While I wish there wasmore funding for this specific project included in the end-of-yearspending bill, the increased funding for Amtrak and theConsolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements programwill help provide critical transportation resources to New Jerseyand the entire northeast corridor."

Jerry Zaro, chairman and New Jersey Trustee of the GatewayProgram, said the federal spending bill "is a strong statement ofsupport for the Gateway Program."

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

"We appreciate the support of our bi-partisan partners inCongress and look forward to continuing to work with them, theAdministration, and all stakeholders to move Gateway to fullconstruction for the benefit of New York, New Jersey and thenation," he added.

Earlier this year, Richard Cotton, executivedirector of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, theproject sponsor, sent a letter to the Federal TransitAdministration requesting the Hudson Tunnel Project be included inthe USDOT Fiscal Year 2021 budget.

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

The Port Authority, Amtrak, the Gateway Program DevelopmentCorp., a well as the states of New York and New Jersey, are seekinga total of $4.361 billion in the Federal Transit AdministrationsCIG Program. Previously, the Gateway Tunnel stakeholders had beenseeking $5.646 billion in federal grants for the project. Thereduction in requested federal funding is directly related to theincrease 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 Tunnelremained at $5.55 billion. The Port Authority in July 2018committed $2.7 billion in support of the entire Hudson Tunnelproject.