OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington state's Transportation Department says it could learn this week whether the federal government has given the go-ahead for five passenger rail projects worth more than $311 million, the Associated Press reports.
Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond wrote to the Federal Railroad Administration last week, proposing the five projects which could start this year and be finished in a year or two. In January, the state was told it would get $590 million from the total $8 billion in federal stimulus money to be spent nationwide to improve passenger rail service.
The Transportation Department says the proposals include a new bridge and bypass track in Tacoma, a bypass track in Vancouver, and track and signal improvements for the Western Washington rail corridor.
(The preceding Associated Press article appeared on the Web site www.seattlepi.com on March 22, 2010.)