The Gateway Development Commission hailed the long-awaited release today of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) on the Hudson Tunnel Project. Completion of the FEIS and issuance of a ROD by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is a major milestone for the project. With a Record of Decision in hand, real estate property acquisition, advanced engineering design, utility relocation and other pre-construction activities can move forward, bringing the project a significant step closer to major construction.

The several hundred page EIS document details potential impacts construction of the project could have on the built and natural environment, including wetlands and coastal zones in the New Jersey Meadowlands and the sea floor of the navigable Hudson River, and details mitigations. The analysis confirms the purpose and need of the project: to preserve existing Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT service between New Jersey and New York and strengthen Northeast Corridor reliability, resiliency and redundancy by building a second rail tunnel under the Hudson River.

The Project involves construction of a new Northeast Corridor rail tunnel under the Hudson River connecting to Penn Station New York as well as the full rehabilitation of the existing 110 year-old North River Tunnel, which was inundated with seawater during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.  The project’s purpose and need is to both maintain the level of service provided by Amtrak and NJ Transit through the existing North River Tunnel, and improve overall reliability, resiliency and redundancy of the rail conduit between New Jersey and New York.

-via Press Release