Good morning,

My name is Sofia Vala, I am a Transportation Planner at Regional Plan Association. Today I am testifying on behalf of the Build Gateway Now coalition. The Build Gateway Now coalition is comprised of over 45 civic, labor, business, and elected groups united to support the nation’s most urgent infrastructure project.

Thank you to the Gateway Development Commission for inviting public comment today. We are very excited to hear that the Commissioners are voting to authorize a contract award to a project delivery partner to help carry out the professional services required to deliver a project of this size. By working with a project delivery partner, the GDC is better poised to hit each progress milestone on time, stay within budget, and establish additional performance metrics. This joint venture between the public and private sectors is essential to success, and contracting a project delivery partner to provide increased capacity is the right model to follow – one that has proven successful for some of the most significant infrastructure projects in the world. We also applaud the GDC for beginning this process by hosting multiple industry engagement days to seek input from industry leaders.

This update comes shortly after the updated financial plan for the Hudson Tunnel Project was submitted to the federal government. This brought the project one step closer to a full funding grant agreement, and also showed the public that the federal government is projected to pay a much larger share of the overall project cost, lessening the local share for New York and New Jersey dramatically.

Together, these progress updates demonstrate a strong start in 2024 for the Hudson Tunnel Project. We look forward to continuing our collective advocacy for this critical project, and ensuring the full Gateway Program is built.

Thank you.