SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Another $63 million was added to the cost of California's high-speed rail project and the completion date for the first 29-mile leg was pushed back 17 months to August 2019, after the state won a lawsuit that had tied up land needed for construction for four-and-a-half years on Tuesday, Deseret News reported.

Landowners in the Central Valley sought to block the controversial $64 billion project there, but a Sacramento County Superior Court judge ruled in March that plans for the system do not violate promises made to voters who approved selling nearly $10 billion in bonds for the project, according to the report.

The lawsuit had tied up access to financing and officials said nearly 500 appraisals for land along the route became outdated during that time. Officials said the additional cost would come from a $160 million reserve, which was included in its original $985.1 million contract with construction consortium Tutor Perini-Zachry-Parsons, Deseret News reported. For the full story, click here.