President Biden’s visit to New York City comes as Republicans have accused him of supporting reckless spending that fueled inflation.
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President Biden’s administration is contributing $292 million in grants from his signature infrastructure law. The money will go toward the extension of a concrete casing for the tunnels on the West Side of Manhattan.
WASHINGTON — For more than a decade, commuters have watched as state and federal officials promised and failed to revamp the century-old rail tunnel connecting New Jersey to Midtown Manhattan, which has become a symbol of America’s aging infrastructure.
During a trip to New York City on Tuesday, President Biden promoted his $1 trillion infrastructure package as the solution.
“This is just the beginning,” Mr. Biden said. “The beginning of finally constructing a 21st-century rail system.”
Eight years after the Obama administration declared the project, known as Gateway, one of the most important public works programs in the nation, Mr. Biden formally announced that his administration is contributing $292 million in grants from the infrastructure law for the project.
While the funding would support only an initial phase of construction, Mr. Biden’s choice to back a project neglected for years amounted to a signature moment for the development — and for a president who has made repairing decrepit roads, bridges and tunnels crucial to his plan to support the working class.
The Biden Presidency
Here’s where the president stands as the third year of his term begins.
- State of the Union: President Biden will deliver his second State of the Union speech on Feb. 7, at a time when he faces an aggressive House controlled by Republicans and a special counsel investigation into the possible mishandling of classified information.
- Chief of Staff: Mr. Biden plans to name Jeffrey D. Zients, his former coronavirus response coordinator, as his next chief of staff. Mr. Zients will replace Ron Klain, who has run the White House since the president took office two years ago.
- Voting Rights: A year after promising a voting rights overhaul in a fiery speech, Mr. Biden delivered a more muted message at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.
Mr. Biden’s visit to New York City comes as Republicans, now in control of the House, have accused him of supporting reckless spending that fueled inflation — a major political vulnerability for the White House that dwindled his approval numbers last year.
But in recent days, Mr. Biden has been on an underground tour of sorts to make the case that his economic plans are not just a price tag but a way to improve the lives of Americans. On Monday, he was in Baltimore highlighting an investment of more than $4 billion to improve an aging rail tunnel there. Later this week, he will hold an event in Philadelphia to discuss lead pipe removal.
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Tuesday’s announcement was the first of multiple grants from Mr. Biden’s infrastructure package to be awarded to the Gateway program, according to a senior White House official, who requested anonymity to describe the competitive grant process underway.
The money will go toward the extension of a concrete casing for the tunnels on the West Side of Manhattan, between Pennsylvania Station and the Hudson River. That work would be a prelude to the digging of the 2.4-mile-long tunnels under the Hudson, which is expected to take three years and cost more than $16 billion.
“This is one of the biggest and most consequential projects in the country,” Mr. Biden said. “But it’s going to take time. It’s a multibillion-dollar effort between the states and the federal government. But we finally have the money, and we’re going to get it done.”
The Gateway project suffered years of delays under the administration of President Donald J. Trump, who reneged on an arrangement for the federal government to cover half of the estimated cost.
His administration downgraded the project’s importance and delayed granting permits that the project needed to advance. In the meantime, the estimates of how much it will cost to build Gateway have risen, driven in part by the high rate of inflation. When Mr. Trump left office, the projected cost of the tunnel was $11.6 billion. Now it is $16.1 billion, and the digging has not begun. Last year, the schedule for completing the tunnel was extended by three years to 2035.
The existing tunnels were flooded with brackish water when Hurricane Sandy struck the region in 2012. Amtrak has conducted piecemeal repairs on the tunnels but has warned that they would eventually have to be closed for comprehensive rehabilitation. Amtrak officials said Penn Station would require expansion to accommodate the additional capacity in the Hudson corridor.
Jim Mathews, the chief executive of the Rail Passengers Association, said it was vital that the project moved forward. But he sees more obstacles ahead, citing a lack of expertise in managing projects like this on both the state and the federal levels.
The lack of such support, he says, can cause projects to get delayed and their costs to skyrocket.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs reported from Washington, and Patrick McGeehan from New York. Mark Walker contributed reporting from Washington.
Source: nytimes.com
