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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mac Con Ulaidh who wrote (86682)	12/11/2010 4:36:52 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

How Ohio and Wisconsin connected Fresno and Bakersfield... CHSRA Board to Consider Modifying Initial Corridor Selection Dec 11th, 2010 \| Posted by Robert Cruickshank Well, this is interesting. Just a week after the California High Speed Rail Authority board approved the Borden to Corcoran section of the high speed rail project for initial construction – with stations at Fresno and Hanford – we learned late Friday that the CHSRA board will meet on Monday, December 20 to consider modifying the corridor selection in light of the recent award of $624 million in new HSR funding from the federal government. I don’t yet have any further information on exactly what this modification would include, but it would at minimum include an extension of the segment to get the project closer to Bakersfield. Whether the northern end of the route would be altered as well, to provide more of a Fresno-Bakersfield route than, say, Borden to Shafter is an open question for now. We’ll hopefully learn more soon. But this does show that the California HSR project is proceeding exactly as planned – with each round of new funding, more of the route gets built. As I argued yesterday, this should be incentive for cities that want the trains but who weren’t included in this first round to be as aggressive as they can in bringing more dollars to the project. == We’re learning more today about just how the $642 million California received in HSR stimulus funds redirected from Wisconsin and Ohio are to be used. Tim Sheehan at the Fresno Bee explains more: Along with an equal sum in state matching money, the reallocation will allow the state to extend the southern end of the system’s first segment perhaps as far as Bakersfield. It also provides money to design stations in Merced and Bakersfield. And that could soothe some hurt feelings in the North and South Valley after the state decided to start building near Fresno…. Assembly Member Cathleen Galgiani, D-Livingston, said rail officials told her the reallocation includes money to plan and design high-speed-train stations in Merced and Bakersfield. My sources indicate that the new federal funding includes money specifically earmarked for station area acquisition in Bakersfield – not just design. Other stations in the system, including some not in the Central Valley, will get some of this money as well for design and acquisition work. Just under $600 million will be left over to build tracks toward Bakersfield. Look for more details about all that on Monday. cahsrblog.com