Caltrain Electrification May Also Benefit Commuters On 101, 280
SAN JOSE (KCBS) – After the Trump administration approved over $600 million in federal funding for the electrification of Caltrain, supporters say drivers will also benefit from the rail upgrade.
The freeways between San Francisco and San Jose are impacted in both directions just about every day now.
"We don't have a 101 corridor anymore, we have a 101 parking lot," Carl Guardino, President and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group told KCBS.
Guardino said freeways lot should benefit from the electrification of Caltrain, which will nearly double its capacity, making rail more appealing to drivers.
"And when we electrify Caltrain, we're only not going to take traffic off of 101 and 280, but our local streets and roads as well," Guardino said.
Senator Dianne Feinstein asked Silicon Valley CEO's to sign on to a letter asking the Trump Administration to approve electrification, and Guardino says in 24 hours 130 of them did.
"Underscoring to President Trump, to Transportation Secretary Chao how vital this is, to our region's innovation economy, and to our families and our workers," Guardino said.
If the federal funding hadn't been approved by June 30th, the $2 billion project would have lost key construction contracts.
The project should be finished by 2021.
