The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has granted VTA a three-month extension to complete the project development phase of the Federal New Starts funding program for the six-mile BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension.  The new deadline is June 2018.
 
VTA requested extra time to refine design considerations for the two different tunneling methods (single and twin-bore) being considered for the 5-mile subway construction into downtown San Jose.  
 
“This nod from FTA affirms the importance of spending additional time to fully examine new innovations in the construction industry that can help us build a project that is safe and minimizes construction impacts to downtown San Jose residents and businesses,” says Sam Liccardo, VTA Board Chair and Mayor of San Jose.
 
A number of activities must be completed during the project development phase to refine a cost estimate and financial plan for the project by June 2018. This includes: clearly defining the project scope; identifying a funding plan which is necessary for the project to be included in the regional long-range transportation plan; and completing the environmental review process.
 
VTA is close to completing these requirements and is working alongside BART to select the tunnel option that meets both the needs of the operator (BART) and expectations of community stakeholders:

• The final state and federal environmental documents are being prepared for public circulation.
• Technical forums are being held between VTA and BART on the single and twin-bore design.
• The VTA Board of Directors is scheduled to approve the project with the final recommended project description in April 2018, with an anticipated Record of Decision from FTA following in early June 2018.

Phase II of VTA’s BART Silicon Valley Project consists of four stations and a 5-mile tunnel through downtown San Jose, completing the 16-mile extension and vital transit solution to highly congested and constrained I-880 and I-680 corridors.