The Port Authority’s Board of Commissioners last month authorized $57 million in planning funds for the first phase of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) system extension to Newark Liberty International Airport.
The $1.7 billion project is a part of the board’s 2017-2026 capital plan.
“Our 10-year capital plan dedicates $32 billion towards strategic investments to support the modernization of critical transportation infrastructure,” Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye said in a news release. “This project improves transportation access to Newark Airport while extending PATH’s trans-Hudson network in Newark.”
Subject to completion of the environmental review process and project authorization by the Port Authority board, the project would include a new station in Newark’s South Ward Dayton Street neighborhood, a new rail yard facility and modification of existing platforms at Newark Penn Station to accommodate increased passenger flow.
Currently, the PATH Newark-to-World Trade Center line’s western-most point is Newark Penn Station. The project will extend the line west through the Dayton Street neighborhood in Newark’s South Ward, ending at the Newark Liberty rail link station.
Once approved, construction of the extension is expected to begin in 2020 with full revenue service to start in 2026. As a multimodal transportation hub, the new station also will reduce traffic congestion and provide environmental benefits through increased use of public transportation.
I applaud New Jersey’s Port Authority commissioners for taking this vital step in the expansion of PATH,” Ruiz said. But the Port Authority’s approval of the project’s planning funds also comes several weeks after the Trump administration released its preliminary federal budget outline, which calls for a scaling back of spending from the “New Starts”” grant program.