Port Authority and NJ TRANSIT Partner to Advance New Trans-Hudson Tunnel

The Port Authority and NJ TRANSIT are now partner agencies in the Access to the Region's Core Initiative (ARC) under a memorandum of understanding approved by the Port Authority's Board of Commissioners on March 29. The agreement gives the Port Authority the primary responsibility for real estate acquisition and construction management in New York.

Access to the Region's Core is a landmark regional infrastructure project that will create a second passenger rail tunnel connecting Manhattan to New Jersey. It also includes the expansion of New York's Penn Station beneath 34th Street in Manhattan. The ARC project will create 4,000 construction jobs each year and 44,000 additional jobs through increased regional economic competitiveness produced by the additional tunnel capacity.

Port Authority Continues Progress at The World Trade Center Site

Development at The World Trade Center site progressed in March with a $105 million contract authorization for the construction of a fire protection system, as well as elevators and escalators at the Freedom Tower. The agency's Board of Commissioners also authorized $14 million in payments for construction and other structural work at the site.

This action builds upon the monumental February construction authorization for the $2.8 billion Freedom Tower project, which allows for up to $1 billion in contract awards by mid-2007. Construction on all major elements of The World Trade Center site is now under way, including the Transportation Hub, the Memorial, and the Freedom Tower.

Port Authority Moves to Increase Airport Safety

The Port Authority Board of Commissioners authorized the design and construction of additional runway "arrestor beds" that safely and quickly stop an aircraft in the event that it overruns a runway. This action expands the agency's runway safety program by providing additional installations at John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International and Teterboro airports.

The Port Authority pioneered arrestor bed technology, with the introduction of its Engineered Materials Arrestor System in 1996. This month's action will bring the agency's total number of arrestor beds to seven, more than any other airport operator in the country.

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