There was a press conference on May 30 to announce that Amtrak would be getting $185 million from the Sandy relief funds to build the box tunnel under the Hudson Yards development project to protect a corridor for 2 new tunnels under the Hudson. LaHood, Senator Schumer, Amtrak board chairman were on hand. One local news article with a couple of photos: LaHood Announces Major Investment In Gateway Rail Tunnel Project.
That Senator Schumer was on hand is a good sign for heavyweight political support in the Senate for the Gateway project. Of course, Schumer is not shy about attending press conferences, but it does matter. All in all, a nice going away present from LaHood to Amtrak to get the funds committed to at least get the box tunnel taken care of. Now, only if LaHood could find $500 or $600 million in the DOT couch somewhere or uncommitted funds that are sitting unused in accounts to re-direct to the North Portal bridge project, that would be a really nice last act as Transportation Secretary. I expect Foxx will get confirmed in the next few weeks.
I'll have to look at the FY2014 budget request justification and FY13-FY17 Five year financial plan documents that were posted late last week to the Amtrak website to see if Amtrak was already counting on getting the $185 million in FY13.
That Senator Schumer was on hand is a good sign for heavyweight political support in the Senate for the Gateway project. Of course, Schumer is not shy about attending press conferences, but it does matter. All in all, a nice going away present from LaHood to Amtrak to get the funds committed to at least get the box tunnel taken care of. Now, only if LaHood could find $500 or $600 million in the DOT couch somewhere or uncommitted funds that are sitting unused in accounts to re-direct to the North Portal bridge project, that would be a really nice last act as Transportation Secretary. I expect Foxx will get confirmed in the next few weeks.
I'll have to look at the FY2014 budget request justification and FY13-FY17 Five year financial plan documents that were posted late last week to the Amtrak website to see if Amtrak was already counting on getting the $185 million in FY13.