Representative Sherrill Leads Two Letters to Secretary Buttigieg, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman DeFazio Highlighting Importance of Gateway Tunnel Project

As “Nation’s Most Critical Surface Infrastructure Project,” Gateway Tunnel Must Be Top Priority In Any Infrastructure Package

Parsippany, NJ — As the Biden administration is set to announce details of their infrastructure package, Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) led two letters to key officials highlighting the importance of the Gateway Tunnel project.

The first letter, addressed to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, thanked the Secretary and the Biden administration for their announcement that the long-delayed environmental impact report would be moving forward and emphasized how important the Gateway Tunnel Project is to the economic well-being of the country. The letter also invited Secretary Buttigieg to visit the Gateway project site as soon as health protocols allow. The second letter, addressed to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, asked for the inclusion of dedicated funding for this crucial project in the forthcoming infrastructure package.

“The Gateway Tunnel Project is the nation’s most critical infrastructure project. A failure of the current Hudson River tunnels could send our nation’s economy into an immediate recession and could cost American businesses and households an estimated $100 million a day,” wrote the lawmakers in their letter to Chairman DeFazio. “To allow for the rapid completion of the Gateway Project, we urge the inclusion of these important funding measures in the upcoming infrastructure package. This project will significantly improve travel along a rail corridor that was used by an estimated 750,000 people every day before the pandemic and will create thousands of jobs at a time when millions of people in our region are looking for work.”

The signatories of the two letters include members from states and districts heavily reliant on the northeast rail corridor.

Full text of the letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg:

Dear Secretary Buttigieg:

As Members of Congress representing states whose economies are heavily reliant on travel along the Northeast Corridor, we write to thank you for your recent announcement that the Biden administration will be moving forward with the approval process for the Gateway Tunnel project. Gateway is the nation’s most critical surface infrastructure project, but the previous administration continually missed deadlines for approving the project, leading to heavy delays in planning and construction that put our regional economy at risk. We greatly appreciate the Biden administration’s goal of approving the project’s environmental impact statement by the end of June and would be excited to have you visit the project site to see its impact on our communities as soon as public health conditions permit.

The Gateway Tunnel project is crucial not just to New Jersey and New York, but to the economy of the entire country. It would be a transformative infrastructure improvement for the nation’s busiest rail corridor, and would create significant resiliency and efficiency improvements for the entire Northeast Corridor. The century-old Hudson river tunnel connected 200,000 commuters between New Jersey and New York every day before the pandemic, but was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy. A failure of the tunnel could injure thousands and cost American businesses and households $16 billion over four years, while a partial closure of the tunnel could reduce property values by $22 billion in New Jersey alone. The Gateway Project would minimize the risk of a potentially catastrophic failure that would affect the entire country, and would modernize the rail infrastructure that millions of Americans use. New Jersey, New York, and the nation need regulatory approval to complete the Gateway Project and ensure that rail travel in the country’s most populous region is both safe and efficient.

We were excited when you recognized the critical importance of Gateway and expressed your desire to move forward with the project during your Senate confirmation hearings. House Democrats similarly advocated strongly for Gateway last year through our landmark infrastructure reform package, the Moving Forward Act, which contained several funding provisions that could be used to support the completion of Gateway. We believe that this crucial support from both the Administration and Congress is the perfect opportunity to finally complete this critical infrastructure project.

Thank you for your attention regarding this important issue that will significantly affect millions of our constituents. We are very appreciative of the leadership that you and the administration have already demonstrated through your commitment to quickly approve the Hudson tunnel’s environmental impact study, and we look forward to engaging further with you on this critical subject. We would also like to cordially invite you to visit the Gateway project site as soon as public health conditions allow it, so that you can see the importance of the project to our region.

Sincerely,

Mikie Sherrill, Member of Congress

Donald M. Payne, Jr., Member of Congress

Adriano Espaillat, Member of Congress

Josh Gottheimer, Member of Congress

Mondaire Jones, Member of Congress

Tom Malinowski, Member of Congress

Jerrold Nadler, Member of Congress

Frank Pallone, Jr., Member of Congress

Bill Pascrell, Jr., Member of Congress

Kathleen M. Rice, Member of Congress

Albio Sires, Member of Congress

Thomas R. Suozzi, Member of Congress

Bonnie Watson Coleman, Member of Congress

Full text of the letter to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman DeFazio:

Dear Chairman DeFazio:

As the Biden administration and congressional leadership begin the process of drafting a proposal to rebuild our aging transportation infrastructure and energy grid, we write to urge you to support the inclusion of dedicated funding for the Gateway Project. We appreciate the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s work to support Gateway in the 116th Congress and were pleased that many of our priorities for the project were included in H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act. We believe that a strong commitment to Gateway in the upcoming infrastructure package will significantly improve the efficiency and safety of the country’s busiest rail corridor and will help to jumpstart our region’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gateway Tunnel Project is the nation’s most critical infrastructure project. A failure of the current Hudson River tunnels could send our nation’s economy into an immediate recession and could cost American businesses and households an estimated $100 million a day. A partial closure of the existing Hudson River tunnels could reduce property values by $22 billion in New Jersey alone. Funding for the Gateway Project is critical to ensure the safe, efficient movement of people and goods through the Northeast Corridor. We were pleased that Transportation Secretary Buttigieg echoed our concerns during his Senate confirmation hearings.

We appreciate your leadership and commitment to Gateway as demonstrated in the Moving Forward Act, which contained several funding provisions that could be used to support the completion of Gateway. This includes $29 billion for Amtrak (with $13 billion going to the Northeast Corridor), $19 billion for the Passenger Rail Improvement, Modernization, and Expansion (PRIME) grant program, $9 billion for the Projects of National and Regional Significance grant program, and $7 billion for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program.

To allow for the rapid completion of the Gateway Project, we urge the inclusion of these important funding measures in the upcoming infrastructure package. This project will significantly improve travel along a rail corridor that was used by an estimated 750,000 people every day before the pandemic and will create thousands of jobs at a time when millions of people in our region are looking for work.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to continuing to work with you and the Committee to improve our nation’s infrastructure.

Sincerely,

Mikie Sherrill, Member of Congress

Albio Sires, Member of Congress

Adriano Espaillat, Member of Congress

Josh Gottheimer, Member of Congress

Mondaire Jones, Member of Congress

Tom Malinowski, Member of Congress

Jerrold Nadler, Member of Congress

Frank Pallone, Jr., Member of Congress

Bill Pascrell, Jr., Member of Congress

Kathleen M. Rice, Member of Congress

Christopher H. Smith, Member of Congress

Thomas R. Suozzi, Member of Congress

Bonnie Watson Coleman, Member of Congress