USDOT recommends $4.45B boost for transit projects

The U.S. Department of Transportation yesterday recommended 18 transit projects in 11 states to receive $4.45 billion in federal funding for construction as part of President Joe Biden's proposed fiscal-year 2024 federal budget.

Half of the projects — a mix of those underway and project proposals — involve heavy and light rail. They are:

• $700 million for the Gateway Development Commission's Hudson Tunnel project, which will construct a two-track heavy rail tunnel along the Northeast Corridor from New Jersey to Manhattan and serve New York Penn Station;
• $643 million for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Westside subway sections 2 and 3 projects, which will connect Westside with downtown Los Angeles through a 2.59-mile, double-track heavy rail line;
• $500 million for Bay Area Rapid Transit's Silicon Valley Phase II project, which will extend BART service 6 miles through downtown San Jose to Santa Clara, California;
• $496.8 million for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Second Avenue Subway Phase II project in New York City, which will extend subway service along Manhattan's east side;
• $350 million for the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line Extension project, which will add 5.6 miles of heavy rail to the city's far south side;
• $316.8 million for the Utah Department of Transportation's FrontRunner double-track project, which involves adding double-track sections to the existing FrontRunner system and purchasing 10 new trainsets;
• $291.9 million for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Council's Southwest Light-Rail Transit project, which will add 14.5 miles to the existing Metro Transit Green Line and connect the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul to multiple surrounding cities;
  
• $250.7 million for Sound Transit's Seattle Lynnwood Link Light-Rail extension project, which will extend by 8.5 miles the existing system from King County to Snohomish County, Washington; and
• $167 million for the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor Phase I project in Southern California, which will build a 6.7-mile north-south connection and supporting stations and facilities.

The projects will receive the funds through the Federal Transit Administration's Capital Investment Grants and Expedited Project Delivery Pilot programs, supported by $2.85 billion in annual congressional appropriations and $1.6 billion in FY 2024 funding provided through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The funds will flow to project sponsors once FTA signs a grant agreement with them, USDOT officials said.

Biden's proposed budget faces Republican lawmakers' opposition, with some saying the document is dead-on-arrival.