the Machinery is primed and ready to dig at the site of the Gateway project a sign that work on the train tunnel under the Hudson River will officially begin the project that's been in the works for years just received a new chunk of change from the federal government bringing the total to 11 billion that the feds will fund and as senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports that infusion of cash means a major reduction in the state's fiscal responsibility for the project that Transportation experts say will dramatic Ally improve the lives of New Jersey residents commuting in and out of New York these are hard dollars that translate into hard hats an exultant Chuck Schumer announced construction of the Gateway train tunnel project under the Hudson River began an Earnest today hyper fueled by the Biden administration's promise to kick in another 3.8 billion in funding it boosts the federal share up from half to More than 70% of gateway's $16 billion price PR tag and brings the federal total to over $ billion with these new dollars gateway's future is assured all systems go there is no turning back this represents the largest infusion of federal funds for any mass transit project in the country in modern history uh and what that means for New Jersey is it'll reduce the state's financial burden Chris curri CEO of the Gateway development commission he says New York and New Jersey are each obligated to pick up a quarter share of gateways costs but with this extra shot of federal infrastructure act funding he roughly guesstimates New Jersey's contribution could be as low as $300 million that's it for the entire project it's a huge huge deal this I can't give you a dollar amount but this meaningfully lessens the burden on New Jersey we'll go back and redo our financials but this is very good news for New Jersey in terms of our share we did a lot of uh financing for the portal North Bridge so we got a lot of credit for that um and we're really hoping to see a very low investment for New Jersey to see these tunnels Built construction equipment framed the announcement at the Hudson yards complex in West Manhattan deep underneath workers will start building a 550 foot long reinforced concrete box to protect the Gateway tunnels right away from Penn Station right up to the Hudson River's Edge we're trying to create a level of Mobility for people that will make it difference in their lives Gateway will provide an enormous economic incentive when we are done we will double train capacity between New York and New Jersey Gateway Advocates feel the need for speed demands Rising a new study from the regional plan Association predicts that as commuters reconfigure their postco work from home schedules trans Hudson Transit ridership could exceed its pre-pandemic peak by the time the new tunnels completed in 2035 meanwhile the old tunnel keeps deteriorating its two tracks damaged by superstorm Sandy corroding faster than Amtrak can repair them every year of delay adds another billion dollars to gateway's Price Tag an extra 80 million a month warns RPA president Tom Wright say time is not on our side because the costs of these things go up exponentially and the longer it takes to do this project the more expensive it's going to be right worries if one track fails it would slash rail service by 75% sending economic shock waves Across the Nation and New Jersey the RPA calculates about a half million North Jersey residents who commute to New York City earned 62 billion do last year and politics remains a wild card 30 years people have been talking about this particular project a lot of talk not a lot of walk President Biden's infrastructure coordinator noted they've funded some 38,000 projects us Transportation secretary Pete budajudge pointed out the 200,000 daily rail Riders who won't have to worry about disruptions after gateways built people who will be riding through those tunnels free to think about their families their upcoming job interview the homework assignment whatever it is that matters most in their lives what happens next in New Jersey a big portion of TN Avenue needs to be elevated to make way for two massive boring machines they'll start grinding their way underneath the river beginning in 2025 in Midtown Manhattan I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight News [Music]