North Carolina was practically shut out when the Federal Railroad Administration handed out $2.5 billion in high-speed rail money last month, but there's a new light at the end of that tunnel:
"You all are going to be in the high-speed rail business," Ray LaHood, the U.S. transportation secretary, told a Charlotte audience today. [Update: 11/18 story.]
The new governors-elect of Ohio and Wisconsin have said they won't accept a combined $1.2 billion in federal high speed rail grants. The feds have said the money will be distributed to other states if Ohio and Wisconsin formally reject it.
LaHood indicated that North Carolina would be in line for a share of that money. He didn't say how much, or how soon the decision would be made.
North Carolina and Virginia have been awarded a combined $691 million so far -- $623 million last January, and $68 million in October -- for a 475-mile fast-train route between Charlotte and Washington, D.C.
Bruce Siceloff reports on traffic and transportation. A News & Observer reporter, editor and blogger since 1976, he took over the
Comments
Still wasting money
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 15:00 — billmackWill we never learn? This money would be better spent to reduce the national debt.