In a meeting yesterday, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission unanimously voted on using federal funds set aside for local projects to cover costs related to the pending purchase of 32-miles of coastal rail line. Last month the state approved the commission’s request for 14.2 million dollars to buy the Union Pacific property connecting Watsonville to Davenport. In order to share engineering and closing costs, Union Pacific is required to pay $400,000 and the County, will pay $250,000, which will come from Regional Surface Transportation Program Exchange Funds, which are federal dollars exchanged for state funding that can be used by municipalities.
