=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2004/07= /29/BAGI17UTGM1.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, July 29, 2004 (SF Chronicle) BAY AREA/Budget enables BART's southward expansion Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer Plans to extend BART south from its Fremont terminus, stalled by the economy and the state's financial crisis, will lurch forward with passage of the state budget. BART will receive $25 million for the Warm Springs extension while the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which is building the San Jose extension, will get $17 million. Both allocations were promised last year as part of a traffic relief program funded by state gasoline taxes and approved by voters in 2002. But transportation officials halted all spending from that fund when the state's budget crisis worsened. The budget, if approved, would restore already-approved allocations. It would also set aside $290 million for new allocations to projects already in the congestion relief program. But that new money is not a sure thing. It would come from $1.2 billion = in bonds that would be paid off using revenue from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Indian gaming deal, which could be invalidated by a pair of propositions on the November ballot. Still, Bay Area transportation officials considered the tentative budget deal good news. "It's a relief," said BART spokesman Linton Johnson. "We still need a lot more money, but it feels like we're making progress." Anne-Catherine Vinickas, transportation authority spokeswoman, said the $17 million would help pay for environmental and preliminary engineering work. BART plans to extend its Fremont line south 5.4 miles to the Warm Springs district sometime between 2007 and 2010. The $633 million project is fully funded in theory but in reality is tens of millions short because of funding uncertainties. The 16.3-mile extension through San Jose to Santa Clara, estimated to co= st $4 billion, still needs about $800 million in federal money. Transportation authority officials say the project can be built by 2014. E-mail Michael Cabanatuan at mcabanatuan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --------------= -------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 SF Chronicle