Hudson Tunnel resumes under shutdown threat

Workers are back on site at the Hudson Tunnel Project, but the restart may be temporary. The Gateway Development Commission warns construction could pause again within two to three months if federal funding is not maintained.

Construction has fully resumed across all sites on the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project after a federal funding dispute forced contractors to suspend work in February. But the restart may prove short-lived.

The Gateway Development Commission warned that without continued federal funding disbursements, construction would have to pause again within two to three months, Construction Dive reports.

“We will have no choice but to stop work again if the federal government does not continue to disburse the funds committed to this project,” said GDC CEO Tom Prendergast. “This project is too important to delay.”

Work that had been paused is now back underway, including riverbed stabilisation and tunnel preparation in New Jersey and New York City. However, contract awards for the Hudson River Tunnel itself and the New Jersey Surface Alignment remain on hold.

The funding uncertainty stems from a dispute that began last September, when the DOT paused reimbursements during a review of the project’s use of race- and sex-based contracting goals. A federal judge later ordered the DOT to resume payments, allowing construction to restart.

Despite the disruption, contractors have reached several milestones. A tunnel boring machine has begun arriving at the North Bergen site and is being prepped for assembly.

On the Manhattan side, crews have poured more than 11,000 cubic yards of concrete for the tunnel floor.