Nothing about California’s high speed rail is moving fast, except the price. Just a few weeks ago, the estimated price of the long-delayed project was said to be $126 billion. This figure wasn’t hidden in a spreadsheet somewhere, it was stated on a national news program.
This week, we’re hearing a new number and it’s more than a $100 billion higher.
California’s long-delayed high-speed rail project is now facing renewed scrutiny after state leaders revealed a dramatically higher price tag, now estimated at roughly $231 billion, nearly seven times the original $33 billion projection approved by voters in 2008.
The revised figures have reignited talks in Sacramento over whether the project can realistically be completed, how long it will take, and whether the state can continue to fund it at this scale.
I have to say this again because it’s stunning: The price has jumped $105 billion since the estimate given three weeks ago. And despite that, the plan to get this finished, according to the people in charge, is to rely on private funding.
California High-Speed Rail Authority officials say the project’s future depends on attracting private investors and focusing on a broader, more commercially viable vision, connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco.
Who is going to be dumb enough to invest in this boondoggle? I’d like to know because if they have that much cash to burn I’d really like them to fund my backyard rocket to the moon. I’m pretty sure I can get it done for a measly $2 billion. I’ll be working alone which should make my progress a bit faster than the entire mass of unionized labor in California.
Senator Tony Strickland sharply criticized the updated costs and timeline, pointing to what he described as a major breakdown in public trust…
“If you’re able to get private sector resources after you continue your project that was supposed to be $33 billion and turned into $231 billion I give you a lot of credit if you’re able to raise a lot of that private capital,” Strickland said.
Yeah, I’m sorry but at $231 billion even some Democrats are going to start to realize this is a fantasy the state can’t afford. So far, Gov. Newsom, who has been the chief supporter of the project, hasn’t commented about the new cost estimate. But I think if he’s planning to run for president next year, he may want this albatross off his neck. This really could be the end of the line for this project.
Finally, the SF Chronicle has a story out today which provides a little glimpse into just one of the factors that pushed the price of the high speed rail project higher. You see, California made a special arrangement to have the path of the train circle around an important state monument that couldn’t be disturbed: The Cesar Chavez National Monument.
Policymakers from California High-Speed Rail Authority had to get the train through the Tehachapi Mountains, an important, geologically-challenging terrain separating the San Joaquin Valley from the Mojave desert. And they needed to cut a path without causing too much disruption to the Cesar Chavez National Monument, a 187-acre compound, former headquarters of the United Farm Workers and final resting place for the once-celebrated leader…
Originally framed as an act of preservation and a concession to the farmerworkers’ movement, the rerouting has taken on a more fraught meaning. It’s another stark example of how politics and threats of litigation have warped the state’s marquee transportation megaproject…
Through letters and stakeholder meetings, the Chavez Center and Foundation successfully lobbied for a bespoke alignment called the “refined Cesar Chavez National Monument design option,” which moved the track about three-quarters of a mile away from the monument boundary. Shaped as a wide curve rather than a straight line, the route would pass over viaducts and access roads and through two tunnels, each one longer than a mile and a half.
To build it, the authority would need more track, more tunneling, and — on top of everything — a massive dirt berm, stretching about 1,700 feet, to conceal the train and blend with the desert hills.
The changes added an estimated $1 billion to the project, all so people walking around the Chavez monument wouldn’t be disturbed by the noise. In retrospect, of course, the entire monument to an accused pedophile and rapist seems like a bad idea and few if any people are going to be coming to the spot to revere him.
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