Federal officials agreed to fill the last funding hole in the $16-billion Hudson Tunnel rail megaproject—allowing the Gateway Development Commission to build the long-delayed but critical link under the Hudson River between northern New Jersey and New York City. 

The Federal Transit Administration informed Congress on June 11 that it would provide the remaining $6.88 billion needed—through its Capital Investment Grant program—to build the project, according to a commission spokesman. 

The agreement will be finalized in coming weeks, the spokesman told ENR in an email, and completes $12 billion in federal funding that will be the largest ever federal commitment to a mass transit project.

“The Gateway Program is the most urgent infrastructure program in America," the commission said in a statement. "The Hudson Tunnel Project will finally provide reliable, modern rail travel for millions of passengers on the Northeast Corridor and drive billions in economic activity." 

Work could begin this year and the project completed by 2035, Kris Kolluri, commission CEO, told the New York Times.  “This is the moment that has eluded this region for literally almost 30 years,” he said. “We are essentially at the point of no return.”