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Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel

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Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel refers to a proposed underwater tunnel for rail transport of freight between central New Jersey and New York City beyond Manhattan, with a location running partly under New York Harbor. It is also known as the "Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel."

Background

Direct connections for railroad freight between Long Island and nearby areas of the United States has long been very limited. Less than three percent by weight of the area's freight is said to be moved by rail. The former Pennsylvania Railroad planned a freight railroad tunnel between Brooklyn and Staten Island in 1893, but the project was never carried out. Attempts by government planners to revive the project from the 1920s through the 1940s did not succeed.[1]

Upper New York Harbor, showing the route of a proposed Cross Harbor Rail Tunnel

In the early 1990s U.S. Rep Jerrold Nadler revived interest in direct connection of rail freight to Long Island, hoping to reduce truck traffic through Manhattan.[2] With support from the City government, the New York City Economic Development Corporation commissioned a study of rail freight traffic across New York Harbor. The Cross Harbor Freight Movement Major Investment Study received $4 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation and $1 million in from the New York City Industrial Development Agency. Edwards and Kelcey, a transportation engineering firm in Morristown, NJ, was hired to study the feasibility of alternative approaches to increased rail access for freight.

Studies of feasibility and environmental issues

In its summer, 2000, report Edwards and Kelcey evaluated proposals for rail tunnels between Brooklyn and Staten Island and between Brooklyn and Jersey City, plus increased barge transport of railcars across New York Harbor. It estimated a pair of tunnels between Jersey City and Brooklyn to cost US$2.15 billion, not including costs of tracks connections or track improvements. Despite the length of the tunnels being considered, up to 17,000 ft (5 200 m), the study found that providing enough ventilation to operate diesel locomotives would be practical.[3]

Probably mindful of environmental issues that were key elements in the 1985 cancellation of the Westway project, the New York City Industrial Development Agency commissioned an environmental assessment. This assessment found that immersed tube construction would be environmentally more hazardous as well as more expensive than bored tunnel construction. Ventilation was confirmed as practical and found unlikely to present greater hazards than fumes from trucks that would otherwise be used to transport freight.[4]

Following the feasibility and environmental studies, two organizations formed to plan and promote a tunnel project and to seek government funding. They are the | Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project, hosted by | STV Group, a construction firm in New York City and Douglassville, PA, and the [| Cross-Harbor Tunnel Coalition], also known as "MoveNYNJ" or "Move NY & NJ," headed by [Marnie McGregor], a Senior Policy Analyst at the Pratt Institute, [| Center for Urban Development] in Brooklyn. The Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project is supported by funds from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration and the New York City Economic Development Corporation, while the Cross-Harbor Tunnel Coalition is a voluntary organization of business, union and political leaders. Political activity led to authorization of US$100 million for a Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel aa a federal transportation project in the U.S. Transportation Equity Act of 2005.[5]

Rail tunnel location and characteristics

The proposed Cross Harbor Rail Tunnel cross-sections would be large enough for one piggyback double-stacked container car rail line or two lanes of automobile traffic.[6] As of 2004, according to the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project the alignment favored for a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel was between the Greenville freight yard in Jersey City and the Bay Ridge rail line at 65th St. in Brooklyn, crossing the middle of the Upper Harbor with a length of of 5.5 mi (8.8 km). Also according to the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project, the project costs, including rail line connections and upgrades, will be substantially more than given in summer, 2000, for just tunnels. Full costs have been estimated at between US$4.8 and US$7.4 billion.[7]

Studies performed for the Cross Harbor Rail Tunnel say that 30,000 trucks per day cross over the George Washington Bridge and the Verazzano Narrows Bridge headed to or from Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island, or about 10 million trucks per year and say that the capacity of the proposed rail tunnel to carry freight is equivalent to between 0.5 and 1.0 million trucks per year.[8] If these are accurate, then at full capacity the proposed rail tunnel could reduce truck traffic between 5 and 10 percent. Some critics object that improved rail transport would provide little traffic reduction relative to its high cost.[9]

References

  1. ^ Gareth Mainwaring (2002). "The Development Of The New York Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project" (PDF). Hatch Mott Macdonald (Toronto, ON).
  2. ^ Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) (1993). "HR 2784, New York Harbor Tunnel Act of 1993". Library of Congress.
  3. ^ Michael G. Carey, President (2000). "Cross Harbor Freight Movement Major Investment Study" (PDF). New York City Economic Development Corporation.
  4. ^ See reference [1].
  5. ^ Marnie McGregor (Jul 29 2005). "Cross Harbor Tunnel Receives Significant Funding in Federal Transportation Bill". Cross-Harbor Tunnel Coalition. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  6. ^ Steve Anderson (2006). "Holland Tunnel Historic Overview". Eastern Roads. The diameter of a 2-lane tube for the Holland Tunnel is slightly less than the diameter for a tube with one rail line in a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel, as shown in reference [1].
  7. ^ Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project (2004). "Frequently Asked Questions". Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project.
  8. ^ Marnie McGregor (Feb 2 2006). "The Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel" (PDF). Cross-Harbor Tunnel Coalition. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  9. ^ Peter Samuel (Sep 29 2004). "New York harbor rail tunnel pushed with special truck toll tax". Toll Roads Newsletter. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
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