Good news for carless South Bay residents: the Feds pulled through and approved $900 million in funds to finally show BART the way to San Jose. With the funds now guaranteed from the Federal Transit Administration the first leg of the project from Fremont to the northeast side of San Jose will break ground in April and is scheduled to be completed in 2016.

The ten miles of new track will carry riders from the Warm Springs extension (currently under construction South of Fremont) to the Berryessa neighborhood on the East side of San Jose. The new extension will also include a shiny new station for Milpitas commuters looking to shun Interstate 880.

A second phase of the extension that would tunnel under downtown San Jose and end the line in Santa Clara proper has yet to secure funds, but officials down South still seem pretty jazzed about the project that has been nothing more than a greyed-out line on the BART map for what seems like forever. As Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority CEO Michael Burns told the press, "For years, many doubted we could bring BART to the Silicon Valley. They said it was too hard. They said it was too expensive. They said it would never happen. But we're well on our way to delivering the impossible."

That's cool and all, but we're still not holding our breath for a BART line to wine country.

Previously: Federal Budget Proposal Would Help Build Central Subway, BART to San Jose
[Chron]