Bridgewater Supports Hudson Gateway Tunnel Project Funding

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The Bridgewater Township Council threw its support behind the Hudson Gateway Tunnel Project.

At the Feb. 5 meeting, the Council unanimously voted in favor of a resolution supporting the funding for the project was halted by the Trump Administration.

"This is a simple, if not wordy, resolution that is expressing the support for continued funding for the Hudson River train tunnel project, which we all know would greatly benefit Bridgewater residents who commute on the Raritan Valley Line with the expanded tunnel capacity this would provide," said Council Vice President Andrew Bucko at the meeting.

Bucko added that the project would not only repair the deteriorating existing tunnels it would also add capacity for one-seat rides at more than just off-peak times.

"In addition to Bridgewater residents, thousands of jobs are unfortunately at stake with the funding that is already been approved by Congress and Washington being halted. This is simply expressing the opinion that the funding should continue and the project should be seen to completion," said Bucko.

Councilman Timothy Ring also said that he fully supports the resolution.

As of Thursday night, the Trump administration will be required to release funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project after a federal appeals court declined on Thursday to overrule a lower court’s decision. Read More: Gateway Tunnel Project Funding Set To Be Released After Court Order Expires

U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas granted a temporary restraining order on Feb. 6 that prevented the federal government from freezing $16 billion in funds.

She then granted a brief stay of her order to allow the decision to be appealed in front of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals that expired Thursday night.

Since the appeals court declined to rule, the initial restraining order is now in effect. Though they still referred the appeal to the motions panel of Second Circuit judges, which will convene until the week of Feb. 23, at the earliest.

"The court’s order is now in effect, and the federal government must immediately release funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “This administration never had the authority to freeze this funding, and it no longer has any excuse to delay."

It is not known how soon the federal government will release funding for the project.

See Bridgewater's full resolution below:

12b by Alexis Tarrazi

— With reporting by David Luces

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