Gateway rail project overhauled in bid for federal funds

feds.

The Port Authority during a recent private executive session decided to take over the tunnel part of the project .Officials said lawmakers in New York and New Jersey will create a public benefit entity next year to oversee tunnel construction, addressing a concern from the feds that the Gateway Development Corp., as a nonprofit, cannot sponsor the project. Sandy-battered Hudson River tunnels a “single point of failure” for 10% of the country's economic output.

The Obama administration had backed the project, agreeing to split the cost with New York and New Jersey. But the Trump administration made no such deal and has demanded more money from the states.

Gateway officials are trying to address concerns from the North span over the Hackensack River.

“All of these things taken together, we believe, is a strong step forward in bringing this project to fruition,” said Steve Cohen, chairman of the Gateway Development Corp.

The Gateway project is seen as one of the most important infrastructure projects in the country, with officials calling the aging, Hurricane broken up, with more local money being pumped into the project.

Now the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will oversee construction of the Hudson River tunnels, plus rehab work on the existing century-old tubes. New Jersey, meanwhile, has cut costs on the bridge portion and put up $600 million to entirely cover the local part of building the $1.6 billion Portal The critical Gateway rail infrastructure project is getting restructured in hopes of landing federal funding, officials said Friday.

To address issues federal transit officials have raised, the $14.5 billion project's first phase -- a new bridge in New Jersey and Amtrak tunnels under the Hudson River -was