Feds get on board for 2 Metro light rail projects
The Federal Transit Administration is committed to helping the Metropolitan Transit Authority qualify for funding of two light rail lines by the end of the year, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Tuesday.
Hutchison's statement came after a closed-door meeting in her Washington office, where FTA Administrator James Simpson and Deputy Administrator Sherry Little talked with Mayor Bill White, Metro President and CEO Frank Wilson, board chairman David Wolff and a bipartisan congressional delegation from the Houston area.
Hutchison, R-Texas, said Simpson was committed to the same goal as the delegation, "and that is a full funding grant agreement by the end of the year."
Such an agreement would ensure that Metro could complete the two lines, provided it followed required federal procedures.
So far, Metro has pushed the projects forward with a series of small grants for preliminary studies.
Metro has applied for $500 million in federal aid to build the North and Southeast lines. Hutchison said the full funding agreement is important because "once that is committed to by the FTA, then it automatically goes into the budget and we don't have to fight for it."
FTA officials would not confirm statements from others that the agency had agreed to help Metro obtain $500 million, but the FTA did issue a brief statement of support.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/5573343.html
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anyways I had to go to downtown today with my friend and took these two shots my friend hates it for me to take pics with my phone bc he thinks is weird... ? lol anyways here there are 
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