New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently toured the Gateway Tunnel connecting New York City and New Jersey in a bid expose damage and call on the feds to fund their portion of the cost of repairs.
Both tubes in the North River Tunnel were inundated with seawater during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, causing falling concrete, corroded electrical cabling and standing water damage. The damage has been compounded by the tunnel’s age and the intensity of its current use, officials contend.
“You have a level of damage that is possible to interrupt service for days and if you lose service of one of these tunnels for one, two or three days you’re talking about a devastating impact on the whole Northeast Corridor,” Cuomo said, alleging Washington is playing politics with the funding.
The governor added: “Where we are now is there was no specific agreed to plan with the federal government to actually repair the tunnels. …The way they were built, these tunnels, was basically built in cast iron tubes that are laid on the river bed and over time sink into the silt of the river bed, but they are not deep tunnels—maybe about 20 feet in the silt of the river bed. So, the water intrusion is an ongoing issue.”
