{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/press/menendez-booker-pascrell-sires-payne-malinowski-announce-portal-bridge-reaches-final-hurdle-to-securing-full-federal-funding-agreement", "Menendez, Booker, Pascrell, Sires, Payne, Malinowski Announce Portal Bridge Reaches Final Hurdle to Securing Full Federal Funding AgreementRead More", "2020-12-12", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "House", "NJ", "Robert Menendez", "M000639", "www.menendez.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON,\r\nD.C.  U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking member of the Senate's\r\ntransit subcommittee that oversees the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA)\r\nCapital Investment Grants (CIG) program, and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), along with\r\nU.S. Representatives Bill Pascrell, Jr. (N.J.-09), Albio Sires (N.J.-08),\r\nDonald Payne, Jr. (N.J.-10) and Tom Malinowski (N.J.-07), announced today that\r\nan $823.6 million federal Full\r\nFunding Grant Agreement (FFGA) for construction of a new Portal North\r\nBridge was formally submitted to Congress last night for its\r\nstatutorily-required 30-day review. The\r\ncongressional review is the final step before the allocation of federal funding\r\nis officially approved. According to the agreement, the FTA will allocate\r\n$766.5 million in CIG funding. An additional $57.1 million will be\r\nprovided through the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Congestion\r\nMitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program towards the $1.8 billion\r\nproject. The balance of funding will include $811 million that the State\r\nof New Jersey has committed to the project and $261.5 million from Amtrak. Building a\r\nnew, higher, fixed Portal North Bridge is a key component of the broader\r\nGateway Project, which includes modernizing the rail infrastructure between\r\nNewark and New York Penn Stations, construction of a new Hudson River rail\r\ntunnel and rehabilitation of the existing century-old tubes that were severely\r\ndamaged by Superstorm Sandy. This is an\r\nimportant and long overdue milestone in our years-long fight to provide relief\r\nto delay-weary commuters and improve the safety and reliability of our\r\ntransportation network, said Sen. Menendez, ranking member of the Senate's\r\ntransit subcommittee. We are now on the cusp of securing the federal\r\nfunding we need to replace the oft-malfunctioning Portal Bridge and getting\r\nconstruction underway on a new, modern span, but our work is far from\r\nover. We must continue building a 21st century transportation system that\r\nensures New Jersey's and the region's economic vitality for generations to\r\ncome. That is why I remain committed to advancing the construction of a\r\nnew, trans-Hudson rail tunnel and completing the entire Gateway Project.For\r\nthe last decade, I have worked tirelessly with my colleagues to advance\r\nrebuilding the Portal Bridge, an essential part of the Gateway project, and\r\nthis FTA grant agreement is the culminationof our efforts,\" said Sen. Chuck Schumer.\"Now,\r\nlet's get shovels in the ground andbuild this bridge to a better transit\r\nfuture for the region.Today's\r\nannouncement brings us one step closer to advancing one of the most critical\r\ninfrastructure projects in our nation, said Sen. Booker. Delays\r\ncaused by the unreliable, century-old Portal Bridge have plagued not only New\r\nJersey commuters for far too long, but also commuters across the entire\r\nNortheast Corridor. As we continue the fight to advance this vital\r\nproject, we must not lose focus on finding long-term solutions to help ensure\r\ncommuter safety and increase our economic competitiveness through robust infrastructure\r\ninvestment, including completion of the Gateway Program.The Portal\r\nBridge is a relic. It is far past time that we upgrade this dangerous\r\nstructure and modernize our cross-river transportation, said Rep. Pascrell,\r\nwho represents Kearny. I'm thrilled Governor Murphy and NJ TRANSIT\r\nare continuing to prioritize the Gateway Project, which includes the\r\nrestoration of the Portal Bridge in Phase 1. It is dead wrong that New\r\nJerseyans have been forced to traverse a bridge that is more than a century\r\nold, and we won't stand for it. I thank Governor Murphy for his steadfast\r\ncommitment to the Gateway Project. I look forward to working with him and\r\nthe incoming Biden Administration to see this project completed.This grant agreement is the necessary next step towards\r\nmaking headway on a new and updated Portal North Bridge for New Jersey.\r\nReplacing and upgrading this century-old infrastructure is crucial to ensuring\r\nthat passengers no longer need to worry about delays caused by needing to set\r\nthe bridge back in place. I have long fought to secure federal funding\r\nfor the nation's busiest passenger rail line, which is why I am glad to finally\r\nsee progress being made on a critical piece to the Gateway Project. I\r\nlook forward to advancing the Portal North Bridge project and urge my\r\ncolleagues to support its completion, said Rep. Sires, who represents\r\nKearny and sits on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.During my\r\ntime in Congress, I have fought to get millions in federal funding for both the\r\nPortal North Bridge and Gateway Project, said Rep. Payne, a member of the\r\nHouse Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. I am excited\r\nto hear that we are one step closer to breaking ground on the new Portal North\r\nBridge. The current 110-year-old bridge has served us well. But we\r\nneed a safer and more reliable bridge to help local and national commuters for\r\nthe next 100 years. As a member of the House Committee on Transportation\r\n& Infrastructure, I will continue to fight for funding as needed to get\r\nthis bridge built as quickly as possible.Securing\r\nthis funding for the Portal North Bridge is a major win for New Jersey\r\ncommuters, and is the result of relentless Congressional pressure, said\r\nRep. Malinowski, a member of the House Committee on Transportation and\r\nInfrastructure. I look forward to construction starting as soon as\r\npossible, and to working with the incoming Administration to advance the Hudson\r\nRiver Tunnel portion of the Gateway Project. The\r\n110-year-old Portal Bridge, long considered the linchpin of the entire\r\nNortheast Corridor (NEC) and the source of major service disruptions for Amtrak\r\nand NJ TRANSIT riders, carries an average 450 trains and 200,000 passengers\r\neach day. The antiquated, swing-style span over the Hackensack River in\r\nKearny is notorious for breaking down and getting stuck in the open position,\r\nstranding commuters and grinding service to a halt. The\r\nNortheast Corridor generates one-fifth of the nation's economy, and the NEC\r\nCommission estimates that a disruption of the NEC from Boston to Washington,\r\nD.C. would cost the country $100 million a day in lost production and economic\r\nactivity. In response to a question from Sen. Menendez during a Feb. 12\r\nSenate Banking Committee hearing,Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified that any\r\nsustained closing of the NEC due to a failure of either the Portal Bridge or\r\nHudson River rail tunnels would put the economy at significant risk. In August,\r\nthe FTA announced that $248 million had already been set aside for the Portal\r\nBridge replacement project, pending completion of the FFGA,\r\nfunding that came from appropriations the congressional delegation successfully\r\nfought to provide the CIG program in FY18 and FY19precisely for its future use\r\nto advance the Gateway Projectover the objections of the Trump\r\nAdministration. This followed the FTA officially moving the project into the engineering phase\r\nof the CIG program in June, at the insistence of the congressional\r\ndelegation and other stakeholders, and in February, upgrading the project's rating to medium-high,\r\nmaking it eligible to enter the engineering phase, a significant step towards\r\nachieving an FFGA.   In May, the\r\ndelegation announced over $91.5 million in funding from the Federal Railroad\r\nAdministration (FRA) to advance replacement of the Portal Bridge and make other\r\nupgrades to improve service along the NEC. Earlier\r\nthis year at Sen. Menendez's request, the U.S. Coast Guard moved to\r\npermanently restrict marine traffic along the Hackensack River during morning and evening rush hours to\r\neliminate the need for Portal to open and reduce the risk of a bridge failure\r\nduring peak travel times. Sen. Menendez had brokered the original agreement that\r\nled to the Coast Guard initially issuing a temporary marine traffic ban\r\nand provide relief for commuters. In\r\n2015, Sens. Menendez and Booker and Reps. Pascrell and Sires helped secure a $16 million federal Transportation Investment Generating\r\nEconomic Recovery (TIGER) grant to help fund $20 million in\r\npreliminary construction work on the Portal North Bridge, which broke ground in the fall of 2017.  The\r\nPortal North Bridge FFGA can be read and downloaded here. ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/press/menendez-booker-pascrell-sires-payne-malinowski-announce-portal-bridge-reaches-final-hurdle-to-securing-full-federal-funding-agreement"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.431733999401331, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}