The Regional Plan Association (RPA) is urging the U.S. Department of Transportation to reverse its decision to freeze roughly $18 billion in funding for crucial New York City infrastructure projects, including the Hudson Tunnel Project and the Second Avenue Subway.
In a forceful response, Tom Wright, President and CEO of RPA, said:
“The US Department of Transportation’s move to freeze nearly $18 billion in funding for critical New York City infrastructure projects – like the Hudson Tunnel Project and the Second Avenue Subway – threatens to destabilize the nation’s largest and most indispensable economic regions in the U.S.”
Wright emphasized that these initiatives are far more than local transportation upgrades.
“These investments are not merely transit upgrades—they are economic engines for both the tri-state metropolitan region and the nation as a whole. The nation’s economic vitality hinges on sustained, robust investment in the tri-state region’s thriving transit network.”
The freeze has immediate implications for employment and long-term development. According to RPA projections:
Wright warned that stopping these projects now could cause ripple effects across the national economy.
“This freeze also puts tens of thousands of jobs in jeopardy. Construction of the Second Avenue Subway is expected to create 70,000 jobs. The Gateway Program’s Hudson Tunnel Project alone is projected to generate 95,000 jobs and $19.6 billion in economic activity during its construction period.”
He further called on federal leadership to honor existing commitments:
“The federal government must live up to its established funding commitments to these projects, and their goal should be to help deliver them as quickly and cost efficiently as possible. Such delays do just the opposite.”
RPA criticized the decision as shortsighted and disruptive to years of planning:
“Infrastructure planning requires clarity and certainty in the process, not shortsighted decisions that threaten our local businesses, put our regional and national economy at risk, and undermine decades of bipartisan work to modernize the transportation system that keeps the entire nation moving.”
“RPA calls on the US DOT to immediately reverse the freeze and recommit to its obligations to fund the largest and most urgent infrastructure project in America.”
With billions in potential economic output and over 165,000 jobs at risk, RPA is positioning the funding freeze as not just a regional concern—but a national economic threat.
Originally reported by RPA.
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