White House to Speed Up High Speed Rail Project - Central Coast News KION/KCBA

WASHINGTON, DC - Construction through the Central Valley for the California High Speed Rail Project will be expedited, announced the White House Friday morning.

The California High Speed Rail is one of two construction projects being expedited to put people back to work and to provide California with more transportation choices. The San Francisco Downtown Ferry Terminal also got the green light.

The projects will improve local and regional connectivity, providing for the safe and efficient movement of people, goods and services. Early, intensive coordination among agencies is expected to save up to 6 months on project schedules.

As part of a Presidential Executive Order issued in March of this year, the Office of Management and Budget is charged with overseeing a government-wide effort to make the permitting and review process for infrastructure projects more efficient and effective, saving time while driving better outcomes for local communities.

The Administration's efforts to continuously add more transparency, accountability, and certainty into the permitting and review process will enable project developers and private investors to more efficiently modernize our nation's infrastructure. Additional expedited infrastructure projects will be announced in the coming weeks.

"Investments in infrastructure are putting people back to work in California by building and modernizing our transportation systems," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "This is good news for the local economy, and it's one more sign of President Obama's commitment to help communities across the country move forward with these critical projects as quickly and efficiently as possible."