Work on the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project will be suspended at 5 p.m. ET (2200 GMT) on Friday after the federal government declined to lift a four-month freeze on funding, the Gateway Development Commission said on Monday. The project, designed to repair an existing rail tunnel and build a new one under the Hudson River, is a key component of passenger rail service between New Jersey and Manhattan.
The Transportation Department has withheld $205 million in reimbursements for the project since October 1, the commission said. Gateway noted the suspension will leave roughly 1,000 construction workers without work and said the funding decision had put passengers at risk who rely on what the commission described as "decaying, century-old rail infrastructure." Earlier, Gateway had said work had already been suspended.
The Hudson Tunnel Project is intended to repair the existing tunnel - built in 1910 and heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 - and to add a new tunnel to expand capacity on the route that serves as the linchpin of rail travel between New York and New Jersey. The existing tunnel currently carries more than 425 trains and over 200,000 travelers each day. Any failure of that aging tunnel, Gateway and others argue, would severely disrupt commuting in a metropolitan region that produces 10% of U.S. economic output.
Federal support for the effort was allocated at about $15 billion under the previous administration. Nearly $2 billion has been spent on the program so far. The overall project cost is estimated at $16 billion.
The suspension follows a dispute over conditions for releasing frozen federal funds. The administration has refused to remove the four-month freeze, and has sought that Washington Dulles Airport and New York's Penn Station be renamed in its chief's honor as a condition for unfreezing billions of dollars in additional funding for the project, according to the Gateway Development Commission. Democrats condemned that linkage.
New York and New Jersey have requested emergency relief from a federal court to compel the restoration of funding; a U.S. judge will hold a hearing on Friday on that request.
Political leaders on both sides of the Hudson reacted strongly. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, speaking near the project site, said the administration was "holding the tunnel hostage because [the president] seems to want to put his name on everything." New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand called the suggestion to trade naming rights for funding "ridiculous," adding: "These naming rights aren’t tradable as part of any negotiations, and neither is the dignity of New Yorkers... The president continues to put his own narcissism over the good-paying union jobs this project provides and the extraordinary economic impact the Gateway tunnel will bring."
Separately, the White House did not respond to a request for comment about the withholding of funds and the naming proposal. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was reported to have told the White House that he did not have the authority to rename the facilities when approached on the matter, and Schumer’s office declined to comment.
The Gateway Development Commission emphasized the practical consequences of the pause: idle construction crews, stalled progress on a project already partially funded, and continued reliance by commuters on an aging tunnel that was constructed more than a century ago and significantly damaged in 2012. The commission said the withheld reimbursements date to October 1 and total $205 million.
With the funding line suspended and a legal challenge pending, both states and project backers face uncertainty about the timeline and completion of the tunnel work. The commission framed the decision as endangering passengers and workers alike by leaving critical repairs and the construction of a new tunnel in limbo.
Context and status
- The project has an overall estimated cost of $16 billion and received about $15 billion in federal support under the prior administration.
- Nearly $2 billion has been spent to date.
- The Transportation Department has withheld $205 million in reimbursements since October 1.
- Work will be suspended at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, idling approximately 1,000 construction workers.