Federal Budget Proposal Includes $330M To Extend Purple Line
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — President Barack Obama's newly released budget proposal earmarks more than $1 billion for California transportation and construction projects, including $330 million that Los Angeles officials say is crucial to extending the Purple Line from the Mid-City area to Century City.
Overall, Obama would spend more than $800 million on transit throughout the state – including $165 million to expand the Bay Area Rapid Transit system to San Jose and $150 million toward a light-rail project in San Diego as he tries to make the case that infrastructure spending will propel a faster economic recovery.
Just last year, the Obama Administration granted Los Angeles a $2.1 billion federal grant and loan to help build a nearly four-mile stretch of the Purple Line from downtown to Beverly Hills.
When the line is complete, it will run through Century City and end at the VA Hospital in West Los Angeles.
The budget proposal is far from final. Republicans who control Congress have criticized Obama's spending plan as excessive and too dependent on additional taxes.
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