In January 2019, Cuomo brought on consultants from the engineering departments at Columbia University and Cornell University with the goal of finding a more efficient way to tackle the tunnel rehab. This effort resulted in the integration of construction techniques used around the world but never before executed on a project in the United States.
The USDOT could end up using a similar solution for the Hudson River tunnel project. During her Feb. 27 testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies regarding President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2021 budget request, Transportation Secretary Elain Chao told lawmakers that the department had already started working with Amtrak on a plan to rehab the tunnel instead of building new ones in the short term.
