Hello, I’m Brian Fritsch, Campaign Manager for the Build Gateway Now Coalition. Build Gateway Now is a coalition of over 45 civic, labor, business, and elected groups. Our coalition strongly believes that the Gateway Program is the nation’s most urgent infrastructure project and essential to the long-term vitality of the New York City region.
I would like to start my comments by thanking President Biden and Secretary Buttigieg for partnering with the Gateway Development Commission to advance the Gateway Program. We look forward to seeing a Record of Decision (ROD) on the Hudson Tunnel Project Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by the end of this month. It has been well over three years since the Draft EIS was submitted and we were pleased to finally be able to stop our count-up clock marking the time to a new deadline when the U.S. Department of Transportation indicated a ROD was forthcoming. The importance of completing a ROD cannot be overstated, as it will allow vital pre-construction work, such as property acquisition, to begin.
To improve reliability and quality of life for commuters and travelers, Congress must act and make major investments in our rail infrastructure, including building the Gateway Program. Not only is the American Jobs Plan essential in rebuilding our outdated and crumbling infrastructure, but we also need a surface transportation reauthorization that will finally put rail infrastructure on par with highway infrastructure, and recognize that both have a key role to play in moving people safely and efficiently.
Although the pandemic has disrupted commuting and traveling patterns for millions, rail continues to be the best and most sustainable moving large numbers of people quickly. Post-pandemic we simply can’t go back to the old days of overcrowded trains and massive delays due to old and failing infrastructure, and Congress must invest in our future.
To that end, we must also find better ways to fund rail programs of regional and national economic significance. While current federal funding sources are available for infrastructure rebuilding, they are too limited in their scope. They create an undue burden on localities to fund the majority of transportation projects that have a substantial impact on the national economy, unlike funding sources for interstate highway projects. To highlight these points, the coalition sent a letter to DOT outlining our concerns and potential solutions. We will be following up with the Federal Railroad Administration to discuss this matter in more detail shortly.
Many thanks to the members of the Gateway Development Commission for your continued service, and for the opportunity to submit our public comment to you today. We look forward to continuing to move the Gateway Program forward to promote health and prosperity for all.
