Agreement Forged by Federal-State Officials Gets Gateway On Track
Today, New York and New Jersey leaders announced that they have reached an agreement on funding commitments and a governance structure that will allow the critically important Gateway Project to move forward.
According to POLITICO New York, the two states, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and federal officials are now hammering out a framework for a new entity dedicated solely to building the project.
The agreement marks a major milestone in the effort to build a new trans-Hudson River tunnel that is an essential portion of Amtrak’s eight-state Northeast Corridor, which connects the states of New York and New Jersey and is one of the region’s most critical major infrastructure projects.
Details of the Agreement:
As part of the agreement Governors Christie and Cuomo announced they will immediately direct the Port Authority of NYNJ in consultation with its federal partners – Amtrak and the U.S. Department of Transportation (“USDOT”) – to establish a development corporation to oversee the construction and execution of the Gateway Project.
This Corporation, will be a special purpose entity under the PANYNJ, will have a Board representing the two states – New York and New Jersey – through their Port Authority designees, and the federal government, represented by USDOT and Amtrak.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer called on the region to create a separate "development corporation" to build a new rail tunnel connecting New Jersey commuters to their jobs in midtown Manhattan.