Work on the $16 billion train tunnels to connect New York and New Jersey will support 20,000 more jobs than previously expected, according to new estimates based on construction work so far.
A report by the Regional Plan Association, provided first to POLITICO, estimates the Gateway tunnel project will eventually create 95,000 jobs. That’s more than estimated for a 2017 environmental impact study.
The RPA estimate is based on early work on the tunnels, including $1 billion in awarded contracts expected to support 7,500 jobs and generate $1.5 billion in economic output. Construction has begun already on both sides of the Hudson River, and a new phase of “heavy” construction is set to begin later this summer.
“The $1 billion in construction contracts we’ve awarded so far are already creating thousands of jobs and pumping millions of dollars into the economy, and that’s only the beginning,” said Kris Kolluri, the head of the Gateway Development Commission, which is overseeing the tunnel project.
