A new tunnel under the Hudson River linking New York and New Jersey might not sound like a Connecticut issue. But the Hudson River tunnel, part of the Gateway Program, is critical to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor which connects Washington, DC and Boston. This corridor drives our regional and national economy, representing 20% of US gross domestic product.

Every day Amtrak carries over 4,000 passengers through Connecticut.If the existing tunnel fails, trains coming from Washington, DC won’t be able to get through New York to Connecticut. And without Northeast Corridor train service, tens of thousands of cars will be forced onto our highways, gridlocking the region’s economy. It’s hard to imagine traffic congestion on I-95 and the Merritt Parkway getting any worse…

The Gateway project is urgently needed. It will:

• Fix the Portal Bridge, which is critical to reliability on the Northeast Corridor;
• Build a new two-track tunnel that will create needed resiliency and allow us to
• Fix the existing, over 100 year old, two-track tunnel that was severely damaged during Superstorm Sandy.

Perhaps most importantly for Connecticut, it will create the capacity for access to Penn Station.

That means new direct service to jobs on Manhattan’s rapidly growing West Side, which will be a significant boost to Connecticut’s flagging economy.

We need Connecticut voices to amplify the message on this critical investment in our region’s future. It’s imperative for our state’s economy that Connecticut is at the table to be sure that the design for the expansion of Penn Station serves the needs of our state’s commuters.