Expediting the planned Gateway Tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan would save billions and create economic benefits to the region, a new report argues.
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With permits in place, work on Gateway could start by the end of 2017, the report says. But it is expected to take much longer.
Common Good estimates that a three-year review and permitting process would increase costs for the estimated $24 billion project by more than $3 billion, with an additional two-year delay raising the price tag by nearly $10 billion. If prolonged another two years beyond that, project costs would balloon by more than $13 billion, according to the study, which is called "Billions for Red Tape."
The estimates are based on calculations of construction cost increases from delay, delayed construction benefits, lost business activity, lost property tax revenue, delay in environmental benefits and additional expenses from shutting down one or both existing tunnels.
"The Gateway project is of essential importance to the region's economy," said Common Good Chair Philip K. Howard, who authored the report as a follow-up to a September 2015 study. "The advantages of moving this project quickly are positive for the economy and to the environment and delaying would be tremendously negative to the environment and the cost of infrastructure."
In addition to adding capacity and breathing room to rehabilitate the existing 106-year-old Amtrak tunnels, the Gateway project will also rebuild capacity on the New Jersey approaches to the Hudson River and increase platform capacity within Manhattan's Penn Station. The existing tunnels, which are also used by New Jersey Transit, were badly damaged with seawater by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 causing service to shut down for five days. Around 200,000 passengers use the tunnels daily and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has estimated a $100 million daily cost to the nation in transportation-related impacts and productivity losses if they were to be taken out of service for just a 24-hour period.
U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Cory Booker, D-N.J. secured a commitment last fall from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Amtrak to cover no less than 50% of project costs via grants and funding from other federal government sources. New York and New Jersey have agreed to fund the remainder of the massive project with the Port Authority taking the lead on financing.
The Gateway project requires environmental review along with permits from almost two dozen federal, state, and local agencies. Howard cited a six-year environmental planning process that was needed before the Port Authority could begin the ongoing elevation of the Bayonne Bridge roadway between Staten Island and Bayonne, N.J. as an example for projects being grounded for far too long.
"The biggest hurdle is a bureaucratic process," said Howard. "Nobody is looking at the bigger picture."
The similar "Access to the Region's Core" project that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie killed in 2010 underwent a six-year environmental review and was fully permitted.
Amtrak estimated the Gateway review would be completed between 2025 and 2028 in a
Jonathan Peters, a finance professor at the College of Staten Island, said often times the approval process drags on too long for important projects. However, he noted that there have been times when stakeholders have managed to fastback the process such as a new Lake Champlain Bridge connecting Vermont and New York that opened in 2011 six years ahead of schedule after the original was forced to close in 2009.
"You don't want to have a needlessly cumbersome process," said Peters, a research fellow at the City University of New York's University Transportation Research Center. "It's a balancing act."
Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, said too often the U.S. fails to adequately address major infrastructure projects and the Gateway provides an opportunity to reverse this trend. Wylde said the importance of the Gateway Project was shown in a Partnership for New York City study released earlier this year when there was a danger of a NJ Transit strike showing that every hour of commuter delays would cost New York City employers $5.9 million an hour. The organization submitted testimony to NJ Transit and the Federal Railway Administration on the importance of quickly advancing the environmental review process.
"Most of New York City's employers have employees living on both sides of the Hudson River," said Wylde. "The Gateway Project is both urgent and important."
NJ Transit spokeswoman Jennifer Nelson said the agency is performing an environmental impact statement study on the Hudson River portion of the project on behalf of the FRA. Both agencies held meetings on May 17 and 19 as part of the National Environmental Protection Act review process required by law. Nelson said the estimated completion of the environmental review process is approximately two years.
"NJ Transit is committed to working collaboratively with all our partners in advancing this project as expeditiously as possible," said NJ Transit spokeswoman Jennifer Nelson. "We have performed prior environmental analyses and have always maintained their schedules."
Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz said the environmental review process is underway for a new Hudson River Tunnel in collaboration with the FRA and NJ Transit. He said other elements of the program including a replacement of the Portal North Bridge over the Hackensack River are already moving toward early construction work.
"The Gateway Program is integral to the economic future of the New York metropolitan region and Amtrak continues to work collaboratively with all stakeholders involved to advance the effort," said Schulz. "Amtrak and its partners will continue to advance each component of the program from planning to completion as expeditiously as possible."
