Gateway Project moves forward as NJ Transit nears completion of Portal Bridge track work

NEW YORK (WABC) — The Gateway Commission says workers have returned to construction sites on Thursday, but work may have to stop in the next two to three months if they don’t get the next round of federal funding.

President Trump said last year that he wanted to terminate the Gateway Tunnel project.

You may remember construction stopped last month because there was a freeze on funding, and the Gateway Commission, New Jersey and New York all filed separate federal lawsuits.

Flash forward to now: Construction is continuing for the time being after an appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to halt payments.

But officials say if they do not continue to get rounds of funding, construction will stop again.

This is a $16 billion project that will construct a new two-track rail tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New York and New Jersey, and fix the existing North River Tunnel, which has been in service since 1910.

Local and state leaders have been going back and forth with the president trying to keep this project on track.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said, “What we’ve seen over and over and over again is when Trump gets involved, costs go up for working people. He seems to be the only person making money in this economy, and gas prices are just the newest indicator of that.”

Looking ahead to another tunnel project: NJ Transit passengers have been dealing with a month of delays and changes due to the Portal Bridge project.

Amtrak is transferring rail service from the old Portal Bridge to the new one over the Hackensack River.

For the past month, crews have been working on one of the tracks, and the good news is it’s expected to be completed by the end of this weekend.

So, NJ Transit schedules should be back to normal on Monday, and commuters will be able to ride over the new bridge on the new track.

It’s important to note that this is just phase one that will be completed, so later this year in the fall, phase two of construction for the other track will begin for the Portal Bridge project, and there will be another month of delays and schedule changes at that time.

Thursday, officials will take a ceremonial ride across the newly completed section of the Portal Bridge.

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