PANYNJ news release:
PORT AUTHORITY POSTS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT PROPOSED $32.2 BILLION DRAFT 10-YEAR CAPITAL PLAN
Date: Jan 11, 2017
Proposed plan is agency’s largest ever;Posting begins month-long public comment period
The Port Authority posted for public comment the agency’s largest ever $32.2 billion draft 2017-2026 Capital Plan. This posting on the agency’s website launches a month-long public review and comment period on the proposed 10-year plan. To view the document, click here. The plan includes $29.5 billion in direct spending on Port Authority projects and a commitment to support debt service on $2.7 billion for the Gateway passenger rail tunnel project and related infrastructure – the largest funding commitment by any stakeholder involved in the project to date.
Comments on the document can be submitted through February 15 to publiccomments@panynj.gov. The Board is scheduled to take action on the plan at its February 16, 2017 meeting. Prior to that action, the Board will consider public comments received in order to determine if any modifications to the draft plan are warranted.
The review process will include first-ever public meetings in both states that will be attended by at least one commissioner from each state, as well as the executive director and chief financial officer. Meetings will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on January 31 at Port Authority offices at 4 World Trade Center and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on February 7 at Port Authority offices at 2 Montgomery Street in Jersey City. To speak at either of the two meetings, members of the public can register in advance at PAevents@panynj.gov. Registrations also will be available at the door beginning at 4:30 p.m. on both dates.
The development of the proposed plan is the result of the February 2015 Board endorsement of the recommendations of the Special Panel on the Future of the Port Authority, which called for the Port Authority to reassess and update its 10-year Capital Plan to reflect a more focused investment in the region’s transportation needs. Agency staff from the Finance, Engineering, Operations and Capital Planning departments spent hundreds of hours developing a fiscally balanced, comprehensive and prioritized approach to invest in the region’s transportation needs and maintain the agency’s assets in a state of good repair. The Board then spent last year undertaking robust dialogue and discussion about the plan, which culminated with a presentation to the public and the full Board at its December 2016 meeting and a vote to move the proposed plan forward for public review and comment at its January 5, 2017 meeting.
The proposed plan outlines new major capital projects the agency will invest in over the next 10 years. All projects remain subject to Board authorization processes, and are subject to a rigorous “gates” review process before they proceed that looks at agency revenue and the ability to finance them. The significant projects include:
- A new Port Authority Bus Terminal.
- The redevelopment of John F. Kennedy International Airport and a new AirTrain system to serve LaGuardia Airport.
- The redevelopment of Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport.
- The redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport’s Terminals C and D.
- The extension of the PATH system to the rail link station at Newark Liberty International Airport. (emphasis added)
The proposed plan also includes $8.8 billion – or 30 percent of the total 10-year spending – for critical renewal projects at the agency’s transportation facilities, including nearly $2 billion to restore the George Washington Bridge, $1.4 billion to replace the Lincoln Tunnel Helix and $550 million to replace wharves and piers. The proposed Capital Plan also follows the Special Panel’s recommendation to redeploy $600 million in regional development funds previously allocated to both states.
The proposed Capital Plan includes a commitment to pay debt service on up to $2.7 billion of expected borrowing by the Gateway Program Development Corporation from low-interest federal Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loans for the critical trans-Hudson rail tunnel link between New York and New Jersey and Portal Bridge North projects.
The plan also includes $7.6 billion to finish projects currently in construction, such as LaGuardia Airport’s ongoing Terminal B redevelopment project, the Bayonne Bridge, Goethals Bridge, PATH’s signal replacement program, upgrades to the Harrison and Grove Street PATH stations and the port and rail cargo facility at Greenville Yard.