Next step for light rail: federal funds
From the Trump administration??
The light rail plan at the center of Project Connect, the mass transit plan voters approved in 2020, got some good news the other day. Nathan Bernier of KUT reports:
Federal transportation officials on Friday issued what's known as a Record of Decision, formally signing off on the project's lengthy environmental review.
The approval allows the Austin Transit Partnership to move into more detailed design work, begin relocating utilities and start the process of using eminent domain to acquire property along the rail corridor.
"It's a big milestone from the federal process side," ATP executive vice president Jennifer Pyne said in an interview ahead of the Federal Transit Administration's announcement. "It's a significant hurdle that we're completing and really allows us to get to the next level of work on the project."
...With the environmental review complete, ATP is preparing to award major contracts that will shape how the system is built. Pyne said the agency is on track to bring its first team of contractors as early as next month.
The project still depends on a multi-billion dollar federal grant. And why should we have confidence that it will get the money under an administration that is openly hostile to anything that doesn't burn fossil fuels?
