10-07-2025
The Hudson River train tunnel construction is already messing with your West Side commute
If you've recently found yourself side-eyeing construction crews along the West Side Highway or zig-zagging around barriers on your bike, congrats! You're now part of the Gateway Program.
The $16 billion project to build a new Hudson River train tunnel (also known as the most expensive mass transit effort in U.S. history) is officially underway on Manhattan's West Side. And while the goal is noble (replacing 115-year-old Amtrak tunnels and preventing Northeast Corridor collapse), the side effects are starting to get real for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
Here's what's happening: To prep for tunnel excavation under the Hudson River, crews have already chopped trees near 30th Street and plan to remove the median on the West Side Highway next. Once that medium is removed, it's reported that traffic will then shift east, all due to a very chill-sounding engineering feat called ground freezing, which stabilizes the riverbed so workers can safely dig beneath it. Crews will insert giant pipes that pump cold brine into the soil, essentially creating an underground popsicle to prevent soil collapse.
'We're going to work very hard to make sure that the traffic flows as unimpeded as possible,' Gateway Development Commission spokesperson Stephen Sigmund told Gothamist. Translation: Buckle up for delays.
Meanwhile, the Hudson River Greenway, New York's busiest bike path, is set to get its own detour near 30th, though officials haven't said when the changes will begin. So, if you're cycling to work, expect reroutes and slowdowns, and consider starting to leave 10 minutes earlier.
The disruptions are expected to last through early 2027, with the full tunnel not scheduled to open until 2035. The eventual plan is for trains to emerge from the new tunnel, located just east of the highway and link up with the Penn Station tracks under Hudson Yards. But until then? Think traffic cones, construction noise and detours galore.
To be fair, traffic pros like 'Gridlock' Sam Schwartz say that as long as highway lanes aren't reduced, the chaos should stay manageable. That's a big if, given the daily dance of trucks, cars, cyclists and cement mixers on the West Side.
