Ding ding ca-ching: OMSI streetcar project gets $75M boost
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The federal government has signed a $75 million agreement to expand Portland's 8-year-old streetcar system east of the Willamette River. Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Peter Rogoff, administrator of the Federal Transportation Administration, held a news conference Thursday to announce the signing. The Bush administration held up the project, but the Obama administration has been enthusiastic about it. United Streetcar, a unit of Oregon Iron Works of Clackamas, is to build the cars. The project is expected to create 1,300 jobs, with cars in service in 2011. The federal money covers half the project. The rest comes from property owners on the route, state lottery proceeds and urban renewal money. (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)