Making tracks: Silicon Valley BART expansion counting on federal funding to finish the job

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS BROKE ground on BART’s expansion in Santa Clara this week, and officials are banking on federal funding to help finish the job.

Santa Clara County Supervisor and VTA Board Chair Cindy Chavez and other labor leaders urged the Federal Transportation Agency on Tuesday to approve VTA’s $6.2 billion funding request to support the BART expansion into Silicon Valley, which would cover just under half of the public transit project’s total $12.75 billion cost. Chavez said the federal funding will be announced “any day now,” and that any less than the full amount threatens VTA’s ability to finish the project.