North Carolina is throwing its hat into the high-speed rail funding ring, requesting $5 billion of the $8 billion in stimulus funds the federal government has pledged to high-speed rail projects. Environmental reviews are almost complete.
Some expect the first round of grants to be announced in late January or early February.
"North Carolina has asked for more than $5 billion of the money. The state is nearly finished with environmental study, as is Virginia.
Western North Carolina could get a sliver of that money, $3 million for engineering and environmental study on expansions of rail, to be split between a planned Salisbury-to-Asheville route and one from Raleigh to Wilmington.
States have asked for $57 billion to build high-speed rail networks, said Rob Kulat, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, even though less than one-seventh of that is available."
Thanks to The Infrastructurist
FULL STORY: North Carolina competes for high-speed rail funding
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