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Seven transit projects under construction in New York City, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Seattle and northern Virginia will receive an advance of $182.4 million in New Starts funding, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced yesterday.

The projects — which include subway, light- and commuter-rail work — already have received Full Funding Grant Agreements, which establish the federal share of funding and set annual payment schedules.

The grants awarded Monday will not increase the overall federal share of the projects; instead, a portion of each project's federal share is being paid earlier than expected because of unallocated funds in FTA's fiscal-year 2010 budget for new construction, FTA officials said in a prepared statement.

The advance payments will free up local funds for other transit projects and save the cities financing costs, said FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff.

Utah Transit Authority (UTA) officials said their agency is receiving $20.6 million for the Mid-Jordan TRAX light-rail project and $16.5 million for the FrontRunner Salt Lake City-to-Ogden commuter-rail line. Both grants reimburse UTA for completed construction work.

The 10.6-mile Mid-Jordan line will connect to an existing Sandy/Salt Lake TRAX line. The total project cost is $535.4 million, with federal New Starts share of $428.3 million. The new line is scheduled to being operating in August 2011.

The total cost of the 44-mile FrontRunner line was $611.7 million, with a federal New Starts share of $489.4 million. The line began service in April 2008.