New plan cuts more than $1B off New York rail tunnel cost

Source: Associated Press

New plan cuts more than $1B off New York rail tunnel cost

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWARK, N.J. — Aug 24, 2019, 12:57 PM ET

New York and New Jersey submitted a new plan for a rail tunnel project under the Hudson River that cuts nearly $1.5 billion off the previous cost estimate, as officials seek to break a funding impasse with the federal government that has stalled progress in recent years.

The plan announced Friday envisions design and construction savings that would reduce the new tunnel's estimated cost from just over $11 billion to $9.5 billion. Repairing the existing century-old tunnel that was damaged in 2012's Superstorm Sandy, and is a source of frequent delays due to crumbling infrastructure, would cost about $1.8 billion, or about $200 million more than previous estimates.

The net cost decrease means the states will seek $5.4 billion from a federal grant program instead of $6.8 billion, project officials said in an email Friday.

It isn't clear how that will affect the project's prospects. The U.S. Department of Transportation has given the tunnel and an associated rail bridge project in New Jersey low ratings that have disqualified them from the Capital Investment Grant program.

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Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/plan-cuts-1b-off-york-rail-tunnel-cost-65169724