Possibly lost in the shuffle of the rollout last week is the news that the President’s budget proposal (PDF) includes $130 million to help fund two significant transit system improvements in Los Angeles, the Regional Connector and the West Side Extension.
The Regional Connector would be a 1.9-mile underground line that would tie together the Gold, Blue and Expo lines and allow a one-seat ride from Montclair to Long Beach and from East Los Angeles to Santa Monica. The West Side Extension would build out the Purple Line subway from Wilshire & Western to Westwood, a distance of 9.5 miles.
Both projects were slated for Full Funding Grant Agreements in the Federal Transit Administration’s FY 2014 New Starts Report (PDF). Metro has identified these two projects as its priority projects.
Only one other project, the Columbia River Crossing, a bridge project with an FTA-supported transit component, was included in the President’s budget proposal and recommended for a FFGA in the New Starts Report. The Columbia River Bridge Project is co-sponsored by the Oregon and Washington Departments of Transportation.
