NEWARK — Construction on an extension of PATH service to Newark Liberty International Airport is scheduled to begin in late 2018 and be completed five years later, according to documents from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

A request for proposals, or RFP, to manage the $1.5 billion project issued on Sept. 26 calls for construction to begin in the first quarter of 2018, with completion scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023. The management contract for the project is to be awarded by the end of this year, according to the the RFP, which notes that the dates are subject to change.

Proponents of the project say it would provide a one-seat mass transit link between the airport and the heart of the metropolitan area it serves, an amenity that has come to be expected by frequent fliers.

Planners and transit advocates say a PATH airport extension would also provide a convenient and affordable commuting option for airport workers in Hudson and Essex counties as well as New York. Environmentalists have embraced the project as a means of reducing automobile traffic.

Friendly skies could be joined by friendly rails, under a plan to extend low-cost, convenient PATH service to Newark Liberty International Airport, where this United Airlines 737 took off in 2012.

Support dates back at least to the late 1970's, when an advisory panel recommended the link. The Port Authority commissioned a study that recommended the project in 2012, and it was included in the agency's current $27.6 billion 10-year capital plan adopted in February, though without a specific time frame.

A Port Authority spokesman, Steve Coleman, confirmed that Friday's RFP was the first document to lay out a schedule for the project, but cautioned that the dates were not set in stone. Proponents nonetheless welcomed word that construction was now at least tentatively scheduled to begin.



"21st Century transportation is vital if we're going to compete with major airports around the country and the globe," said Joe Sitt, chaiman of the Global Gateway Alliance, an airport advocacy group. "So we're glad to see the Port Authority putting concrete milestones on the table toward making a one-seat ride from the World Trade Center PATH to Newark Airport a reality."

The extension is to run from the PATH's western terminus at Newark Penn Station, along an existing Northeast Corridor right of way used by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains. NJ Transit already provides heavy rail service between Newark Penn and Newark Liberty via a station on the Northeast Corridor linked to the air terminals and other areas by the airport monorail.

The PATH extension would be largely redundant, following the same route and using the same monorail link. But riders could continue on PATH trains from Newark Penn on to Harrison, Jersey City stops at Journal Square, Grove Street and Exchange Place and at the World Trade Center in Manhattan. With a single transfer, PATH riders from Hoboken or Manhattan's West Side could also reach the airport, albeit in a two-seat ride.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow hin on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.