Gateway rail tunnel project providing economic boost
By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... The economic stimulus promised form the 416 billion Gateway rail tunnel project beneath the Hudson River is starting to show up in workers' wallets - not just in North Jersey, but across the country, according to a new analysis.
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The first five of nine construction contracts for the program are expected to support more than 20,000 jobs, $4.5 billion in economic output and $1.7 billion in wages, according to a report written by Gateway Development Commission staff and its finical consultant Ernst & Young.
..... About 94% of the $2.2 billion in capital spending through those five contracts is expected to be sourced in the U.S. And the report's authors estimate at every $10 spent on direct labor for those five contracts supports more than $17 in wages and benefits across the country.
..... "The latest analysis of current construction activity shows an immediate and quantifiable return on investment in big, bold mega-projects" such as the Hudson tunnel project, the report said. "As increasingly complex and large-scale operations accelerate on both sides of the Hudson River, so do opportunities for American workers and businesses."
..... The new tunnel between North Jersey and Manhattan is meant to provide more reliable service along the Northeast Corridor for NJ Transit and Amtrak riders entering and leaving Manhattan's Penn Station. Once it is completed, work will begin to rehabilitate the existing tunnel, which was badly damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
..... Construction workers account for about 11,200 direct jobs created by Gateway's first five contracts. That equates to $959 million in wages and benefits thanks to the labor agreements erased with trade unions that provide a consistent and qualified workforce for the projects and strong membership of the unions.
..... The project labor agreements also include provisions to support apprenticeship programs like the "Helmets to Hardhats' initiative that helps veterans transition to construction trades.
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Around 9,000 jobs will be cerated indirectly at such businesses as restaurants near job sites, and around the country, as in Solon, Ohio, where tunneling shields and digging machines are being manufactured.
70% of project covered by grants
..... Nealy $12 billion of the $16 billion in spending - which includes construction of the new two-track tunnel from North Jersey to Manhattan an rehabilitation of the existing two-track tunnel - will be coved by federal grants, totaling 70% of the project. The rest of the money comes from New York and New Jersey.
..... With the Trump administration already immersed in wide ranging federal spending cuts, which has put federal grant money of all kids at risk, Gateway tunnel advocates argue the dividends of federal investment in the project will be felt for generators across the U.S.
..... "I expect that these tunnels will also be beneficial for another 100 plus years, so when you lay that cost out over that time period and you talk about the inflationary pressure, it's an easy thing to justify," said Christopher Boylan of the General Contractors Association of New York.
..... "I know it;s a lot of money, but the long-term economic benefits is - really, it pays for itself over and over and over again," Boylan said. "these are things that you can't put an exact number on, but boy it'll have tremendous impact for decades to come."