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The Westside subway extension, which would bring Metro's Purple Line from its current Wilshire/Western terminus to Westwood, got what some are hailing as a "major step" closer to some big federal funding. California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer made a joint announcement today, urging the U.S. Department of Transportation to okay a $641 million federal loan for the project.
Here is what each of the senators had to say today about the possibility of major funding for the "Subway to the Sea."
Senator Boxer:
“I am so pleased that the Westside Subway Extension project is advancing and attracting national attention as a model of how we finance and build transit projects nationwide. As Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, I am working on a new transportation bill that will help communities like Los Angeles to leverage local, state and federal investments in transportation projects that will create jobs and ease traffic congestion.”
Senator Feinstein:
“Los Angeles is the largest city in our country without a comprehensive subway system. That needs to change. I urged the Department of Transportation to make this loan to LA MTA in order to begin construction on the Westside extension and to establish a world-class transit system in a city that desperately needs one.”
L.A.'s Westside Subway extension project is one of only eight nationwide invited to move into the final approval phase for the loan. As part of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's 30/10 Plan to speed up transit improvements in the city, the loan, if approved, would be repaid via Measure R funds. Metro projects the subway project will add 40,000 jobs to the region.
