Fed Money Brings HSR Closer to Bay Area

The US Department of Transportation announced earlier this week that it would redirect $300 million in funds from Florida’s high-speed rail project to California, helping the California High-Speed Rail Authority complete construction on the project's first segment.

Voters approved Proposition 1A back in 2008, which approved sending the construction of a 220 mph train that would transport passengers from the Bay Area to Southern California in less than two and a half hours. The project has an estimated price tag of $42 billion.

The new money, reallocated on Monday, will help extend the initial Central Valley construction segment north toward Merced, funding the track and civil work from Fresno to the junction near Chowchilla, which will provide a connection to San Jose and San Francisco to the west, according to a statement released by the Authority.

“In the past 15 months we have won the lion’s share of federal dollars, unlocked state bond funds and began engaging the private sector to secure their future participation, so that we can begin construction and begin creating thousands of quality jobs next year,” Authority chairman Curt Pringle said in a statement.

The Authority has won 40 percent of all federal dollars awarded to states’ high-speed rail projects, according to Pringle.

“To be honest, we were hoping for a little more,” said Daniel Krause, the executive director of Californians for High-Speed Rail (CA4HSR), a statewide grassroots organization. “But this definitely moves the project further along and keeps the momentum going.”

However, the project has faced opposition from some Peninsula leaders who say they are concerned about funding sources and about changes in infrastructure along the rail corridor, which they fear could drastically affect the landscape of the region.

CA4HSR has begun a dialogue with Bay Area representatives like Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Sen. Joe Simitian and Assemblyman Richard Gordon. Those three officials recently explicitly rejecting the notion of "high-speed rail running from San Jose to San Francisco on an elevated structure or ‘viaduct.’”

“Their moves are well intentioned, but they’re internally inconsistent,” Krause said. “They want to spend as little as possible, but refuse to let an aerial track go through cities and only want trenches.”

CA4HSR members have been working to ensure that the federal government sees the merit of the California project and rewards the project with more funding. Members encourage California residents to call their federal representatives when the elected officials are drafting the 2012 budget.

“The federal government has an estimated $53 billion for high-speed rail proposals over the six years,” Krause said. “We need to support its vision and make sure California secures some of those funds.”