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Proposed rail tunnel linking Brooklyn and Jersey City gets boost
HUDSON COUNTY NOW
From the Jersey Journal newsroom, October 17, 2007
by Ken Thorbourne
The long discussed freight rail tunnel between Jersey City and Brooklyn is expected to receive a boost tomorrow, as the Port Authority's board of commissioners is set to vote to carry out an environmental impact statement on the proposal, officials said.
A pet project of U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, an environmental impact study on the concept had stalled in 2005 when New York City officials failed to pursue it, said Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman Stephen Sigmund.
The Port Authority has access to $100 million in federal grant money for cross-harbor related projects, of which roughly $10 million would be spent on the study, Sigmund said.
The proposed 5.5-mile tunnel would connect points in Conrail's Greenville Yards in Jersey City with points along the Long Island Rail Road's Bay Ridge Branch at 65th Street in Brooklyn, crossing the middle of the Upper Harbor.
Studies performed by the Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel, a New York-based group, estimated that the tunnel, when fully operational, would reduce traffic in the metro area between 5 and 10 percent.
The environmental impact statement -- which has no timetable for completion -- would examine the effect the proposed tunnel would have on the environment and the affected communities, Sigmund said.
Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy has said in past he opposes the proposal.
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