Yesterday the board authorised the GDC to enter into a final agreement in September with the Federal Railroad Administration for a US$3.8bn Federal-State Partnership.
GDC applied for the grant in March 2023 and the US$3.8bn requested was committed in November 2023. At the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing – Section 3 (HYCC-3) groundbreaking in November, Senator Charles Schumer announced that the grant would revise the HTP’s funding structure from a 50-50 to a 70-30 split between the federal government and the states, representing the largest ever federal commitment to a rail mass transit project.
“The FSP grant agreement will cap off the massive effort to get the Hudson Tunnel Project all of the funding it needs to be completed,” said New York GDC commissioner Alicia Glen, New Jersey GDC commission Balpreet Grewal-Virk, Amtrak commissioner Tony Coscia said in a joint statement.
To increase public engagement in the project, GDC has launched an EarthCam at the HYCC-3 site on Manhattan’s west side. The camera will provide a daily panoramic view of HYCC-3 construction progress on the GDC website. A similar EarthCam was established at the Tonnelle Avenue Bridge and Utility Relocation Project construction site in New Jersey in April.
HYCC-3 is an essential right-of-way preservation project linking the new tunnel into New York Penn Station. Ongoing work at the HYCC-3 site includes secant guide wall and pile installation, jet grouting under the High Line, and demolition of the LIRR Emergency Services Building, which was relocated to clear the path for the new tunnel.
At the Tonnelle Avenue Project site in North Bergen, construction is under way on a new road bridge that will carry Tonnelle Avenue over the new tunnel’s portal. Early work to demolish the ARC Project’s remaining concrete abutments was recently completed, and concrete form work for the new bridge’s abutments will start this week. Excavation and lagging work is also in progress.
Following GDC’s authorisation to proceed with Phase 2 of the Hudson River Ground Stabilisation (HRGS) Project, which is preparing the riverbed for tunnel boring, large floating cranes in the Hudson River have started work on the test cofferdam for in-water work. Sheeting and pin pile installation are also under way. GDC awarded the HRGS contract to Weeks Marine in February.
