Frelinghuysen says Gateway tunnel is a national priority, needs Trump administration 'vision'

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen tried Wednesday to keep pressure on the Trump administration to recognize that building a new Amtrak tunnel under the Hudson River is a national priority, after a railroad official denied the existence of a funding deal that New Jersey and New York thought was in place.

Frelinghuysen, a Republican from Harding who heads the House Appropriations Committee, did not say what he would do if he doesn't get his way, other than pointing out that it would be the committee's responsibility "to assure that such national priorities are met."

New Jersey, New York and federal transportation officials in the Obama administration announced in 2015 that they would share the cost of building a new tunnel to replace the current one used by Amtrak and NJ Transit that is more than 100 years old. The agreement was that the two states would fund half the project and the federal government and Amtrak would fund the other half.

But in a Dec. 29 letter, the deputy administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, K. Jane Williams, called that agreement "non-existent" and said it was "unhelpful" for New York and New Jersey to expect it to be in effect when nine of 10 passengers are local transit riders.

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Frelinghuysen secured about $900 million for what is known as the Gateway project in a 2018 transportation bill that passed the House last year, but that effort went nowhere in the Senate. There is no final agreement on funding the government for the remainder of this year, and it is unclear whether the White House and Republican leaders of both chambers are seeking to include Gateway funds in negotiations with Democrats that are currently underway.

In a letter to Williams, Frelinghuysen pressed the state's case.

"There has long been agreement among federal, state and local officials that the Gateway project is an urgent national infrastructure priority," Frelinghuysen wrote. He cited the potential disaster to commerce and travelers that could be caused by a failure of the existing tunnel, which was damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

"A project of this size and scope requires investment from all stakeholders and your vision too! I strongly encourage the Administration to support my state and New York in this effort," Frelinghuysen wrote.