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February 11, 2020 Mike Friedberg
202-469-5131
Coalition for the Northeast Corridor Applauds Administration for Committing to Fund New Jersey’s Portal North Bridge; Thanks Federal Champions for Hard Work
(Washington, D.C.) – The Coalition for the Northeast Corridor (CNEC) today responded to the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) newly released ratings under the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program.
One of the Northeast Corridor’s most important infrastructure projects, the Portal North Bridge (PNB) in New Jersey, was given an updated “medium-high rating,” meaning that it is finally eligible to receive discretionary funding under the CIG program to match its other non-federal funding sources.
“We congratulate the State of New Jersey and its partners on receiving its hard-earned and well-deserved medium-high rating for the Portal North Bridge, a critical national asset and lynchpin of the Northeast Corridor” said Amit Bose, Chairman of CNEC. “This long-awaited funding will move this nationally significant project closer to construction and bring the PNB to a state of good repair.” “CNEC members realized we could provide value to the process and engaged the Administration and Congress to demonstrate the private sector’s confidence in the project’s financing. We educated the Administration on why the PNB has national significance and why it’s fate should not become political fodder,” said Michael Friedberg, Executive Director of CNEC. “Our members saw a need to add value to the DOT-FTA process and to provide a private sector accounting of why the Administration needed to change the project’s rating.”
“We thank the New Jersey Congressional delegation, Governor Murphy, and our other federal champions for working with CNEC to fight for the PNB project and to bring the Northeast Corridor some much needed funding,” added Bose.
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The Coalition for the Northeast Corridor (CNEC) is the business community’s voice for strengthening rail infrastructure in order to reduce congestion, create jobs and grow the economy. We represent diverse stakeholders who rely on the Corridor to conduct commerce, access customers, and transport employees.
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