Gateway's fate a legal debate

Judge sets hearing Friday [02/06/2026] on bid to restore funding

By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Scattered on the concrete slab project site for the Gateway rail tunnel project in North Jersey are weatherized containers full of rubber materials and electronics that need to be protected from the harsh temperatures.
..... Nearby are empty white cars that will carry excavated rock and several sets of unassembled gantries that look like white erector sets.
..... The site, off Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, was not buzzing with workers on February 4 [2026] the way it had been for the past three years. Just a few milled around, finishing up a few projects, preparing to pour a final segment of concrete, as others secured the site.
..... On the other side of Route 1 & 9 stood hulking, green pieces of giant tunnel boring machine that will be sued to dig the new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between North Jersey and Manhattan Penn Station.
..... The machine parts were adorned with branding from Herrenknecht, the German company that built the machine and recently shipped it in parts to New Jersey and Baltimore.
..... Next to those pieces was what looked like a large metal wheel spoke, which the green boring machine parts will be welded to, forming the cutter head. The machine that will activate the rotating discs to cut through the tough Palisades rock was covered in a trap.
..... Everything was frozen in place - but warmer temperatures won't help.
..... The thaw has to come form President Donald Trump - or a federal judge - to restore the federal aid covering the vast majority of the $16 billion tunnel program.
..... The North Bergen project site is one of five in active construction where workers have begun the 15-year- program to construct the new two-track tunnel and then rehabilitate the 116-year-old tunnel currently in use.
..... NJ Transit and Amtrak riders who take trains that use the old tunnel routinely deal with delays, cancellations and unreliable commutes because of the tunnel's age, as well as the damage form corrosive salt water during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
..... The Trump administration paused funding for the tunnel project on October 1, [2025] and appears to be withholding it to punish Democratic foes, especially U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, amid disputes over the federal budget and funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
..... The Gateway Development Commission, the bistate agency overseeing this complicated construction program,runs out of money February 6 [2026] and won't be able to pay its contractors or the 1,000 union workers who will lose their jobs in the coming days.
..... Hamed Nejad, chief engineer for the Gateway Development Commission, said the contractors are waiting until the last minute before laying off workers. "Once you lay off a good labor force, it's not going to be easy to get them back. They need to feed their families," Nejad said. "Everyone is waiting for some good news, some miracle."

Two suits over tunnel funding

..... Two lawsuits were field this week [02/03/2026] in different federal courts to seek expedited intervention restore the funding, one form the governors of New York and New Jersey, the other from the Gateway Development commission. A U.S. judge will hold a hearing on February 6 [2026] on the emergency request by New York and New Jersey to force the restoration of funding, Reuters reported on February 4. [2026] New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said she spoke to Trump late last week [01/29/2026] about the project and the importance of releasing the funds, which she said he understood, but so far it hasn't swayed him.
..... "Let me be clear - this is a political decision by the president," Sherrill said during a February 4 [2026] press conference at Newark Penn Station. "there has been no credible explanation for the holdup other than political games and moving the goalpost."
..... About $15 billion in grant and loans are tied up in the federal funding pause, despite lengthy agreements, congressional approval and many billions of those dollars already obligated to the project.
..... Sherrill said "it's pretty likely we'll prevail" in court, but even still, there are potential long-term consequences to a pause.

$20M a month in costs

..... New York, New Jersey and Amtrak are on the hook for cost overruns, which could be about $20 million a month to wind down the construction, secure the sites and store some of the equipment. workers who get laid off will move on to other jobs and it will be hard to fill in those specialized crafts, which could delay the project should funding resume.
..... The pieces for a second tunnel boring machine will be on their way to North Bergen, but will have nowhere to go if the pieces for the first one aren't assembled - another expensive problem. "We are using every means we have to fight hard for jobs for the economy for the commuters of this state," Sherrill said.

..... This story contains material from Reuters

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