Developers are baling the latest delays and cost increases for the Hudson Tunnel Project on uncertainty surrounding federal environmental review.
"Costs for the proposed Hudson River rail tunnel project yo-yoed back up as planners postponed the projected start date by a year," reports Eydie Cubarrubia, citing documents revealed in August by the Gateway Program Development Corp. and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Cubarrubia summarizes the shifting cost estimates for the project thusly:
The $11.6 billion project includes $1.8 billion to rehabilitate the existing North River Tunnel between the two states and $9.8 billion for a new tunnel. The total price tag, cited in a submission to the Federal Transit Administration’s 2020 call for projects for the Capital Investment Grant, is a 2.4% increase from the 2019 submission’s $11.3 billion. Last year’s submission itself was a reduction from $12.7 billion.
According to the Gateway Development Corps., the reason for the delay, and the ensuing cost increase, can be traced to delays at the federal level in completing the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. The story sounds similar to the delays that have beset the city of New York's congestion pricing scheme. The story of the Trump administration's obstruction of the tunnel project is also familiar.
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