It’s nervous time again for LA Metro, now that a door has swung open that provides funds for unfinished rail projects — extra dollars that will come from a transportation rescue program in the recently adopted state budget.
Initial guidelines released Aug. 18 say the state is prepared to dole out $5.1 billion from two key funding pots, $4 billion from the Transit Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) and $1.1 billion from a line item for zero-emission programs.
LA Metro is estimated to receive $1.32 billion spread over this fiscal year and next year. Metro is slated to receive the largest allocation of 49 regional transit agencies in the state. The second-highest amount would go to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which oversees planning, financing and transit projects in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, according to documents from the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA).
Other Southern California transit agencies slated to receive funding are: Orange County Transportation Authority, $381 million; Riverside County Transportation Commission, $287 million and San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, $259 million.
In February, local officials learned that two LA Metro light-rail projects were shut out of the TIRCP funding cycle, the 3.2-mile extension of the Gold Line (now A Line) from Pomona to Claremont and Montclair, and the misnamed West Santa Ana Branch that will run from downtown Los Angeles to Artesia. These were left off the funding ledger despite CalSTA awarding $2.5 billion to 16 transit projects in the state.
The failure of the two projects to receive a dime was a shock to many, especially when the agency prioritized the environmentally-cleared, fully designed and ready to build Foothill Gold Line extension ($798 million) as No. 2, and included the West Santa Ana Branch ($500 million) in its application. The state’s decision to deny funding to the two projects evoked an uproar from many Metro board members,…
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