If construction on the $16 billion Gateway Hudson River rail tunnel ends today because the Trump administration has cut off federal funding, nothing bad will happen to future commuting from New Jersey into Penn Station and no new capacity of additional trains or passengers will be lost.
That is because the tunnel, being guided by the bistate Gateway Development Commission, is a gigantic boondoggle that does zero to actually improve anyone’s ride.
GDC and the politicians in Trenton and Albany are trying to scare Manhattan Federal Judge Jeannette Vargas, who this afternoon will hear their argument that the states of New York and New Jersey would somehow be harmed if the 100% federally funded project is stopped and that she needs to immediately reverse the Trump freeze. Why? Because — claim their legal briefs — they contend basically that they would have to pay to put up a fence around the excavation sites and hire a security guard or two.
The case filed by the states is using the federal Administrative Procedure Act. But that is what California attempted last July when Trump and the U.S. Department of Transportation cut off funding for a high speed rail project. That case was a bust and California withdrew its own lawsuit in December. There is no emergency here and Vargas should say no.
The real action should be next week in D.C. before the specialized U.S. Court of Federal Claims on a breach of contract claim filed by GDC. As we’ve said before, the contract for the biggest part of the money, the $6.88 billion full funding grant agreement, can be voided by DOT because the tunnel project does not meet the legal standards for such a grant, namely to add new capacity.
This is a tunnel to nowhere and just a part of a much larger plan costing tens of billions more, but segmentation isn’t permitted under the law for funding purposes.
GDC must agree to modify the plan to bring all trains in Penn Station, not a new station called Penn South that would cost another $20 billion on top of the $16 billion for the tunnel. The new tunnel should also be economical, without expensive and unneeded bench walls. That will save time and money.
As for the current tunnel, built in 1910 and damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, fix it immediately instead of waiting until 2040, as GDC would. The MTA’s L-train success proved that night and weekend repairs are practical and effective. There is even a whole plan for the Hudson Tunnel repair-in-place, prepared by London Bridge Associates in 2020. If that LBA plan was used, the old tunnel would be completely repaired by now.
Trump has also frozen funds to the extension of the Second Ave. subway, but that project has substantially local money and is not a boondoggle, as it provides new service. Gateway has a funding crisis because there is not a cent of local money in this monstrosity. It’s a giant con on the U.S. Treasury agreed to by the Biden administration that violated the law for the funding program, called New Start.
The old 1910 tunnel is at no risk of failure. If it was, waiting until 2040 would be insane. Fixing it now will avert any problems that may arise and it will save money.
If GDC and the states will think logically, there is a way forward to reduce costs, speed construction and produce a new tunnel that actually adds capacity. And Trump can take credit for forcing a better outcome. Everyone can win.
