Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Wednesday that federal tax dollars have resumed for the Gateway Tunnel project after a months-long funding freeze that halted construction and put roughly 1,000 workers on the sidelines.
In a release, the Gateway Development Commission said it “has received the full reimbursement owed to us from the federal government and now has more than $205 million available to fund work on the Hudson Tunnel Project.”
“We are working with our contractors to deploy these funds to resume work as soon as possible,” the GDC said. “Letters will be sent to contractors today, and construction activities are expected to resume next week. We continue to pursue all avenues to secure access to the full amount of federal funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project, including our lawsuit.”
Speaking during a media availability in Flemington, the new governor said New Jersey has now received the reimbursements following court action and warned that the stoppage has already driven up costs on a project that was on schedule. She framed the tunnel work as an economic linchpin for the region, citing commuter volumes through the existing Hudson River rail tunnel and the broader economic stakes of keeping the corridor operational.
The comments came as the Gateway Development Commission — the bi-state entity overseeing the Hudson Tunnel Project — said it has received federal tax dollars, bringing the project more than $205 million in available funds to restart work. The commission said it is working with contractors to deploy the funds and expects construction activity to resume next week.
The dispute centers on reimbursements the Trump administration was withholding, prompting New York and New Jersey to sue the U.S. Department of Transportation. Federal courts ordered the administration to resume disbursements; the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block that relief, and the administration has since begun releasing tranches of the withheld money.
Sherrill said the fight is continuing in court even as funds are released, and she argued the pause inflicted real harm on workers and their families — damage, she said, that won’t necessarily show up in official metrics until after the fact.
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