The country’s most expensive public infrastructure project finally appears to have the money and legal approval to complete its first leg.
a breakthrough for the country’s most expensive public infrastructure project, California’s bullet train finally appears to have the money and the legal approval to complete its first leg. What remains a challenge is how to link that initial 171-mile route through the state’s Central Valley agricultural heartland to population centers in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose—and how its designers will overcome California’s mountainous terrain and seismic risks.last month to release $4.
The project “is alive and well and creating employment opportunities for thousands of workers who are engaged in the most innovative and transformative project our nation has seen in almost 75 years,” said Karen Philbrick, executive director of San Jose State University’s Mineta Transportation Institute. “The legislative support to advance an electrified HSR segment between Merced and Bakersfield is incredibly meaningful.”Where Philbrick sees opportunity, critics see a boondoggle.
The California project, which estimates travel time between San Francisco and Los Angeles will be less than three hours, also receives about $1 billion annually from the state’s Cap and Trade program, a de facto carbon tax on major emitters of greenhouse gasses. While the Build Back Better infrastructure money was never approved, there’s a pool of other new federal money California can tap for future needs.
But all the programs share the same challenge the Golden State faces: finding billions of dollars to turn them into a reality. “Anyone who thinks that they can bypass Fresno and the Central Valley again doesn’t have a heart for people.”Construction work in Fresno has clogged downtown streets and will be a headache for its nearly 530,000 residents for at least another year.
California is tapping global expertise in those areas, such as Japanese engineers who’ve overcome similar geographic challenges. A technical advisory panel made up of international experts will review and provide input on California’s design criteria.
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