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Jan. 31 (UPI) — President Joe Biden is expected to announce Monday, $1.2 billion in federal funding for nine key infrastructure projects, the largest of which is the Hudson Tunnel Project on the bustling northeast rail corridor.
Biden is making the announcement at 12: 30 p.m. in New York City, where the tunnel will be constructed, while also highlighting eight other large infrastructure projects across several states.
The $292 million earmarked for the Hudson Tunnel Project will help fund crucial early phase work for the project, which will see an entirely new tunnel built, followed by heavy refurbishment of the two existing single-track crossings.
The current tunnel’s two separate tubes opened in late 1910 and carry Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains under the Hudson River and connect Manhattan’s Pennsylvania Station with Weehawken, N.J. They allow for a maximum of 24 trains per hour on what is the busiest rail corridor in the country.
More than 450 trains carry 200,000 passenger trips per day during the week through the tunnel.
Both underpasses were damaged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and have never been completely repaired, leading to delays.
“It is in poor condition as a result of storm damage and requires regular and, occasionally, emergency maintenance that disrupts service for hundreds of thousands of rail passengers throughout the region. Despite the ongoing maintenance, the tunnel’s systems continue to degrade and can only be addressed through a comprehensive rehabilitation of the tunnel,” the U.S. Department of Transportation says on the project website.
The multi-million-dollar investment comes from the National Infrastructure Project Assistance Discretionary Grant Program, part of Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, passed in late 2021.
Among the other major grants Biden will announce Tuesday is $250 million for Brent Spence Bridge connecting Ohio and Kentucky. He inspected the aging span earlier this month with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
The president will also announce $150 million for the Louisiana Department of Transportation for improvements to the Calcasieu River Bridge along a busy stretch of interstate, and $117 million to improve a two-mile corridor of Illinois’ Metra Commuter Railroad. That corridor includes 11 separate bridge replacements.
Biden will also layout plans for an additional $363 million in federal infrastructure funding Tuesday morning.
On Monday, Biden announced billions in grant funding to replace another aging rail tunnel in Maryland. The nearly 150-year-old Baltimore Potomac Tunnel is one of the worst bottlenecks on the entire northeast rail corridor.