The grant money would support the design of a tunneling project from the Central Valley toward California’s largest population centers, according to the lawmakers.
“By preparing for future final design and construction of complex tunnels in this corridor, the project will advance both state and federal goals to improve safety, expand economic strength and global competitiveness, address equity issues, and implement sustainability practices to confront climate change,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Democratic Reps. Pete Aguilar, Jim Costa, and Zoe Lofgren asked for the federal Department of Transportation grant award one month before Trump, a critic of the high-speed rail project, takes office.
Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to the request, saying the money was California’s, allocated by Congress.
“We’re not giving it back,” Newsom said then.
The lawmakers said in the letter Friday that the federal funds would help design the first two segments of the Central Valley section, including a Bakersfield to Palmdale segment, and a Gilroy to Central Valley Wye segment.
The segments have already cleared environmental assessment requirements, according to the letter.
According to the lawmakers, the investments will support living wage jobs, provide small business opportunities, and equitably enhance the mobility of communities in need, including disadvantaged agricultural communities.
If approved, the funds would be matched by state cap-and-trade funds of almost $134 million.
The funding would help start time-intensive and complex design work, geotechnical studies, right-of-way design identification, and utility design, the lawmakers said.
A formal application was submitted as part of an ongoing federal-state partnership that has provided about $29 billion in funding for the project, including $22 billion from state funds and $6.8 billion from federal funds.
A request for comment from the lawmakers was not immediately returned Monday.
Buttigieg’s office did not say whether the outgoing secretary planned to consider the request. He typically responds directly to those who make requests, and not the media, according to his office.
The train was projected to travel up to 220 miles per hour, with the expected completion date of 2020.
“The Fresno River Viaduct in Madera County is one of the first completed high-speed rail structures,” the authority said in May.
The project has spent $12.9 billion on construction, environmental clearance, planning, design, and other procedural measures, according to the authority.
