Hudson Tunnel project will temporarily occupy small portion of 1600 Park; city, developers say park features will remain open

Hudson Tunnel Project officials told the Hoboken City Council on Wednesday that refinements to construction plans will require temporary and limited use of a county-owned portion of 1600 Park for ground stabilization and to underpin the Willow Avenue viaduct, and that officials consider the changes a "de minimis" use under Section 4(f) of federal law.

The presentation, by George Pascales, community relations manager for the Hudson Tunnel Project, Jake Wade, a senior environmental planner, and David Smith, the project's tunnel engineer, described two work areas adjacent to Hoboken: a ground-stabilization construction staging area that would occupy a portion of 17th Street and an area between 17th Street and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, and underpinning work beneath the Willow Avenue viaduct that marginally encroaches on the Willow Avenue right-of-way portion of 1600 Park.

GDC said the ground-stabilization staging area would be active for about 19 months beginning in early 2026 and that Willow Avenue underpinning would require roughly 14 months of work starting mid-2026. The GDC presentation said about 2,500 square feet, or roughly 2.5% of the publicly accessible park, would be temporarily occupied; permanent above-ground pile caps would affect about 500 square feet (0.5%) of that county-owned right-of-way portion of the park. GDC representatives said the city-owned portion of the park would not be impacted.

Why it matters: The Hudson Tunnel Project is a multi-state rail project…