Will Trump help Gateway get off the ground?

Officials optimistic about president-elect's focus on infrastructure

Hudson River tunnel (inset: Donald Trump)
Hudson River tunnel (inset: Donald Trump)

A Trump presidency may help get the Gateway tunnel project moving.

John Porcari, interim executive director of the Gateway Development Corporation, the group heading the $24 billion project, said he “looks forward to working with [Trump] and his administration” and is happy that the president-elect has identified infrastructure as one of his top priorities, Politico reported.

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Donald Trump [TRDataCustom] has said that he wants to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure and plans to introduce a bill that will authorize that spending — though the source of the funding is not yet clear. Officials said in October that funding for the project — which would bring two new tunnels under the Hudson River — could be in place by 2019. At the time, Sen. Chuck Schumer said he would not approve a transportation secretary who didn’t back the project. That, however, assumed that he would be Senate majority leader with Hillary Clinton as president.

The president-elect has not yet commented specifically on Gateway. Gov. Chris Christie, who is expected to join Trump’s administration, has shown support for the project, despite the fact that he put the kibosh on Gateway’s predecessor, ARC. [Politico]Kathryn Brenzel