The Gateway Program Development Board has approved to solicit private construction and finance companies to complete the $20 billion rail tunnel connecting northern New Jersey and New York City.
The board voted unanimously to seek a law firm to set the parameters for the process to hire outside construction and financing companies.
The P3 model would help ensure the project will receive all of the funding due to President Donald Trump’s pending $1 trillion infrastructure funding program, according to a NJBIZ article.
The project entails constructing a rail tunnel under the Hudson River that would connect northern New Jersey to New York’s Pennsylvania Station, and is part of Amtrak’s $24 billion Gateway program.
The portion of the Gateway project between Newark, N.J., and New York City is on the Trump administration’s list of high-priority infrastructure projects released in January.
In October the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved $300 million to go toward replacement of the Portal Bridge, which spans the Hackensack River and is part of service into Penn Station.