U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, along with Mayor Bloomberg, vowed last week to work to secure federal funding for a cross-harbor rail freight tunnel. Joining long time tunnel proponent Jerrold Nadler at a City Hall press conference, the three elected leaders declared their readiness to bring the project to fruition.

The endorsements are a major step forward for the project. Its critics have at times said the effort was a one-man show. But Nadler is the senior New York City representative on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which will take up a major transportation spending bill during 2003, and so is in a good position to recruit allies. Senators Clinton and Schumer also each hold seats on Senate committees that will play major roles in the transportation legislation.

The cross-harbor tunnel — likely to run from Jersey City to Brooklyn — would provide a vital rail freight link between NYC and the nation’s rail lines west of the Hudson. Currently, the only rail freight connection across the Hudson is near Albany, so 95% of goods come into the city by truck. According city Economic Development Corporation analysis, the rail tunnel would eliminate one million truck trips across the Hudson each year.

The rail link, if sufficient rail yard space and other auxiliary facilities can be secured, could also underpin development of container shipping activity along Brooklyn’s waterfront. Critics of the rail tunnel tend to favor high-end residential development along active or formerly working waterfronts.

The tunnel has backing in Long Island and southwestern Connecticut, which are also cut off from the national rail network.

According to Nadler’s office, the EDC has given the cross harbor tunnel the highest economic benefit to cost ratio (2.2 to 1) of any transportation project under consideration in NYC (most infrastructure projects are 1:1). The net benefit of the project is estimated at $10.5 billion while the cost is estimated at $2.3 billion. EDC is currently conducting a $20 million environmental review of the project. A draft environmental impact statement should be completed later this year.

Mayor Bloomberg included the cross harbor tunnel in New York City’s white paper on federal transportation funding. He sent the paper to Congress in February (View white paper (PDF)). Other major priorities identified in the paper include a lower Manhattan transit hub, the LIRR-Grand Central connection, the Second Avenue subway and a variety of bus, ferry and bikeway programs. The paper also calls on the federal government to preserve the basic program structure developed in the 1991 and 1998 federal transportation laws. The 1998 law, TEA-21, expires this fall. Congress is beginning to debate its reauthorization.

While many local elected officials and advocacy groups support expanded rail freight in the city and and region, railroad companies have been more hesitant to endorse an expensive tunnel project. In a January City Council hearing (MTR #399), railroad representatives said existing infrastructure priorities, such as aging rail lines and replacing system inconsistencies, should be attended to before a completely new rail tunnel is built. Many observers also suggest the railroads are worried about being asked to pay some of the tunnel’s construction cost.

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