The Gateway Development Commission awarded a $1.29 billion contract on April 27 to a Traylor / Walsh / Skanska joint venture to construct Package 1C of the Hudson Tunnel Project — the twin passenger rail tunnels under the Hudson River that will form the spine of the broader Gateway Program.
The award is the clearest sign yet that the $16 billion megaproject has cleared its political turbulence and is moving back into full-scale construction.
Where the project stands today
Tunnel boring on the Tonnelle Avenue section is already underway. On the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing Section 3, two concrete pours totaling about 7,300 cubic yards have been completed in 2026. Excavation of launch areas, ground stabilization work, and early concrete construction are now positioning the project to move into full tunneling later this year.
The first tunnel boring machine is scheduled to begin its run from North Bergen toward Manhattan in mid-to-late 2026. Completion of the full Hudson Tunnel Project remains targeted for 2035.
A near-miss with a funding freeze
The Gateway Program was paused earlier in 2026 when the federal government withheld funding tied to the Hudson Tunnel Project. New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on February 18 that the remainder of the $205 million in federal funds had been released, ending the freeze. Roughly 1,000 jobs that had been impacted by the pause were restored, and the Gateway Development Commission moved quickly to put the next contract package out the door.
Why this matters beyond New York
The current pair of North River tunnels date to 1910 and were significantly damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. They carry every Amtrak Northeast Corridor and NJ Transit train between New Jersey and New York Penn Station — the single busiest passenger rail bottleneck in the United States. A failure of either tube would functionally sever the Northeast Corridor.
The Gateway Program — of which the Hudson Tunnel Project is the centerpiece — is the most consequential rail infrastructure investment in the United States this decade, and the Package 1C award puts the most technically demanding piece of it firmly in motion.
The Hudson Tunnel Project is being managed by the Gateway Development Commission with engineering oversight from WSP. The Traylor / Walsh / Skanska joint venture will lead twin-bore construction beneath the Hudson River, the most complex single element of the $16 billion program.