The project will give the tunnel, which was erected in 1910 and carries about 200,000 weekday passengers beneath the Hudson between New Jersey and Manhattan, a decades-long-delayed upgrade, CBS News reported.
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday there will be a $292 million grant to be used to help build a critical new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey, according to reports.
The commander-in-chief announced the plan in New York City as part of a broader effort to draw a contrast between his economic vision and that of Republicans, according to CBS News.
"This tunnel opened for business in 1910, 113 years ago," the president said from inside the tunnel where the construction project is taking place. "And the structure is literally deteriorating. The roof is leaking, the floor is sinking. Plus, it was badly damaged by Superstorm Sandy ... The United States of America, for God's sakes, what are we doing? This is the United States of America. We know better, we're so much brighter than that. And now we're going to prove it."
The money is part of $1.2 billion in mega grants being awarded under the 2021 infrastructure law, according to NBC News.
“This is one of the biggest, the most consequential projects in the country," Biden said. “But we finally have the money, and we’re going to get it done. I promise we’re going to get it done."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, spoke at the event Tuesday as well and said, "Finally, finally, finally, we can say Gateway will be built.”
“So hooray, hooray, hooray, here comes Gateway! Without the rail tunnel under the Hudson River, America would "go into a recession overnight," Schumer added. "For four years, the former president was shoveling you-know-what. And now, we're going to put real shovels in the ground, wielded by real American workers. That's the basic contrast between this presidency and the last — empty rhetoric, versus experienced leadership. Schoolyard bullying versus building consensus. Personal grievances versus getting things done."
The project will give the tunnel, which was erected in 1910 and carries about 200,000 weekday passengers beneath the Hudson between New Jersey and Manhattan, a decades-long-delayed upgrade, CBS News reported.
The grant would also be used to help complete the concrete casing for an additional rail tunnel beneath the river, preserving a right of way for the eventual tunnel, CBS News reported.
The project is expected to cost $16 billion in total but is said to help ease a bottleneck for New Jersey commuters and Amtrak passengers going through New York City, according to CBS News
The New York visit came after the president visited Baltimore and are part of three trips this week aimed at highlighting Biden's bipartisan success in securing money to invest in the nation's crumbling infrastructure, Reuters reported.
Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Biden are scheduled to meet Wednesday, with the Republican lawmaker intending to press his case for spending cuts even though White House officials say Biden won't negotiate over the need to increase the federal debt limit, according to NBC News.
