SANTA CLARA, Calif. (CN) — The Federal Transit Administration awarded a $5.1 billion grant to help Bay Area Rapid Transit extend its rail lines into Silicon Valley.
The extension project aims to connect the Berryessa/North San Jose station to two new stations in downtown San Jose and an additional station in Santa Clara near a Caltrans station adjacent to San Jose Mineta Airport.
The Valley Transportation Authority announced the grant at a press conference in Santa Clara attended by Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. The project is the largest transportation infrastructure project in the history of Santa Clara County.
“This is very big news, not just for VTA, not just for the project, but for the entire community, the entire valley, the entire Bay Area region," said Carolyn Gonot, VTA's general manager and CEO.
The Bay Area Council, a public policy organization that advocates for a better quality of life for Bay Area residents, applauded the move in a statement.
“Extending BART to Silicon Valley isn’t just a regional priority it’s also an important investment in the nation’s economic and innovation future,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council. “We were proud to join with San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and so many others to advocate for this critical funding and we applaud the Federal Transit Administration for its wisdom in investing to strengthen in our nation’s competitiveness.”
Wunderman said the project will better connect the South Bay with workers and employees and help ease San Jose’s notorious traffic, which will improve productivity. A study by retail auto information website CoPilot found that San Jose commuters spend about three days a year in rush hour traffic.
Wunderman also said that the project will enable leaders to focus on building more housing in places where it is needed.
Chavez, who represents District 2 in Santa Clara County, thanked the Biden administration in a statement announcing the grant.
“This is the second largest investment that the federal government has made in any single transportation project in the country's history," she said.
Mahan, a VTA board member, said that the project is a commitment to Silicon Valley as the global center of high tech innovation and praised Santa Clara county residents for their selflessness.
“It's the people of Santa Clara County who got us to this point and enabled us to go secure this historic federal match, because time and time again when our community leaders went out there an asked our community, are you willing to tax yourselves, sacrifice for future generations for our economic growth and prosperity and opportunity for all, our community said yes over and over and over again,” Mahan said.
The entire cost of the project is estimated to be around $12.7 billion. Federal funding combined with existing funds covers most of the cost for the project.
Despite the grant, a $700 million gap in funding that needs to be closed. VTA announced that it will freeze new spending for 60 days and negotiate contracts to make up the shortfall.
"It was critical for us to get the federal government's commitment," said VTA's chief megaprojects officer Tom Maguire, "because now we know what we have to solve for. San Jose is going to get $5 billion. That's great news."
The project is expected to create 75,000 jobs, most of which will be union jobs. If all goes according to schedule, the extension will be done by 2040.
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