The ink is barely dry on California legislation to start building high-speed rail, and now they reveal a $2.5 billion hidden cost that wasn’t included in previous estimates, that being the cost of tunneling the final mile into San Francisco. It shouldn’t really matter, as they don’t have the money to build the last 130 to 150 miles of rail from the Central Valley to San Francisco anyway.
On top of that, California residents are discovering that their high-speed rail authority has been keeping controversial aspects of the planned route as secret as possible, at least until it is too late for people to do anything about it. For example, the plan calls for running the track 75 feet above the city of Alhambra, which is likely to be a major eyesore.
Speaking of eyesores, former Hawaii Governor Ben Cayetano is putting the above ad on television showing just how much visual blight will be created by the Honolulu rail project. Cayetano is running for Honolulu mayor, and if he is elected in August, he may be able to kill it.
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There is also a lawsuit challenging the adequacy of the Honolulu project’s environmental impact statement; if that suit wins, it will set a precedent affecting rail plans all over the country. The lawsuit charges that the EIS failed to consider a full range of alternatives; if rail proponents had to consider real alternatives, they would be forced to admit that rail costs far more but does little if anything more than buses.
The lawsuit’s plaintiffs are seeking tax-deductible donations to cover their legal costs, and any contributions made before July 31 will be matched by a local foundation. If you are fighting rail in your city, it might be worth your while to donate something to the Honolulu group.
On the lighter side, some comedians are making fun of the Honolulu rail plan.
It’s not just tunnels. Building high speed rail in California’s rough and tumble country will involve more than that. To keep it smooth and as uninterrupted as possible, they would have to build over 500 bridges and tunnels, overpasses and underpasses so to skip any auto traffic. What were they thinking when they have problems with just one.
Visual blight now is just the icing on the cake. Remember bare concrete doesn’t age very well. Especially in Hawaii where the humid tropical climate and year round sunshine turns concrete into a breeding ground for bacteria and algae.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Hawaii_State_Capitol%2C_Honolulu.jpg
To look at what aged bare portland cement-based concrete looks like, drive the Pennsylvania Turnpike sometime – especially the “original” mountain section of the Pike between Carlisle and the suburbs of Pittsburgh.
Many of the ancient bridges have been replaced, but not all. Here is one from the Turnpike’s Bedford (U.S. 220, Exit 146) interchange that probably dates from about the time that the highway opened in 1940.
CA is determined to bankrupt itself, if not by HSR, then by spending $24B to rip off water from Nor Cal. The Feds are in on this one, too, including Salazar the Sleeze.
I am missing what you find blighting in that picture from the elevated rail structure.
It looks no worse than the auto oriented neighborhood in general, and the hideous architecture typical of suburban American roads. How does the elevated rail line make it any worse?
No one would ever mistake this line for St. Martin’s Station in Chestnut Hill Philadelphia, or Forest Hills Station in Queens, or Point of Rocks In Maryland but then, you’d probably oppose building a service with structures that looked like those as well.
Paris and Vienna both have elevated metro’s that most people consider quite beautiful.
I must agree with Andrew. Cars and their ilk are a blight on the urban land. I went to a brewery in Ballard, Washington recently, and my choices were to sit outside and look at a parking lot of U-Hauls and listen to a jackhammer or sit inside and look at kitschy pirate deco. Guess which one I chose.
However, in the interest of full disclosure, I drove to this blighted landscape. It took 10x less time than taking the bus. Don’t worry. I had a designated driver for the ride home.
Cars are also a blight in National Parks.
Oops. I mean a real disaster.
Maybe only cars built before 1930 should be allowed in parks. It would be much better than the mess the federal government (in conjunction with Big Oil and Hospitality) has made of our “crown jewels.”
Would love the AP to address this issue.
Until then, after next week in Glacier, find me in National Forest land where by and large, cars are not a blight like they are at places like Paradise or Giant Forest or Zion Canyon or the North Rim.
No more cars in national parks!