I hope this can be discussed rationally rather than with memes.
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/high-speed-rail/article308061540.html
Well, per the articles numbers, it is at Triple the original budget, 5 years past the the scheduled opening date, and at this point NO Rail has been Laid?
Sounds to me like it is well past time to stop throwing Bad Money after Good.
I’m not even saying that there is no place for Federal funding of an Intrastate project, but THIS project has been so mismanaged that it Should have Federal funding cancelled, and the whole project cancelled, if CA can’t, or won’t fund it themselves
As Originally Proposed, I could have supported Federal funding, even though I would in all likelihood, Never ride it, but to see my, and others tax dollars fund such a SNAFU, is Disgusting
If California wants it, let Californians Pay for it, they had a Generous Opportunity for Federal funding, and they Massively Blew it.
NO MORE Federal Funding
Doug
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Administration wants to pull back — a combination of $929 million awarded in 2010 and $3 billion awarded in 2023 — is earmarked for the construction of a downtown Fresno station, and extensions from Shafter to Bakersfield and Madera to Merced.
We’ve been talking about this in other forums.
As I stated in them, it is absurd to punch a 200+ mph rail line directly through the downtowns of some pretty significant midsized cities.
Metro polulations:
Bakersfield 922k
Kings/Tulare 423k
Fresno 1.024m
Modesto 556k
Stockton 817k
No one else, no other country, not even the Chinese, have attempted to do that. It’s insanity! Land acquisition costs are insane. Utility relocation costs are insane. Grade separation for every street you will find in a downtown is insane. Let’s face it, the project is insane.
Should have been built in either the median of I-5 or at least through farmland. No! They’re going right through the center of these cities!
Here’s a settlement map of Fresno. Every little black dot is someone’s home. The city is about 10 miles across. And they are going right through it! At street level or on an embankment.
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