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California’s embattled high-speed rail project, already years behind schedule and tens of billions over budget, was dealt another blow this week with reports that a proposed $11 billion bridge span is fictional.
The so-called “bridge to nowhere” was cited in a scathing audit by the State Auditor’s office, which accused the California High-Speed Rail Authority of deceptive budgeting practices and a lack of transparency on the project’s spiraling costs.[1]
The Draft Revised Business Plan included a theoretical $11 billion bridge that the Authority does not actually intend to construct,
the audit stated bluntly.
This theoretical bridge falsely inflates the estimated cost…and further undermines the transparency and credibility of the Authority’s planning processes.
Rail authority CEO Brian Kelly pushed back forcefully, insisting the bridge reference was simply an accounting “placeholder” and that no such structure was ever proposed or budgeted.[2] He accused the audit of fanning
misinformation and unsubstantiated claims.
But controversy has dogged the bullet train project for over a decade, as costs have exploded from an initial $33 billion price tag in 2008 to renders latest estimate of nearly $105 billion.[3] Just this year, the rail authority was forced to scale back its plan for a statewide system stretching from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The first operational segment connecting Bakersfield to Merced is now projected to open in 2030 at the earliest, four years behind schedule.[4]
“This project is a classic example of the Legislature approving something and then just letting it spiral completely out of control,”
said David Crane, a lecturer at Stanford University and former advisor to former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.[5]
At this point, it would be better to just cut bait and reinvest that money in other transit improvements that could actually benefit Californians.
The latest rail plan does away with several viaducts and tunnels to trim costs, including a 4-mile tunnel segment through Los Angeles’ Tehachapi Mountains. So where did the fictional $11 billion bridge come from?
In its report, the State Auditor suggests the rail authority included an inflated bridge cost as “contingency” to insulate against future cost overruns – an allegation Kelly denies, though he didn’t provide specifics on how the erroneous bridge data made it into the state’s Draft 2022 Business Plan.
For long-suffering California taxpayers who approved the initial $9 billion bond measure for high-speed rail in 2008, the bridge debacle is just the latest indignity for a project seemingly trapped in a Mobius loop of budget deficits and delays. While Kelly and the rail authority defend their work as “realistic” and in line with other global high-speed systems, public confidence in being able to afford the train to completion is extremely low. $200 No Deposit Bonus + 200 Free Spins Real Money.
A March 2024 poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found just 27% of state residents still favored going forward with the high-speed rail project given its escalating price tag.[6] In the court of public opinion at least, webplayday.com, this latest California high-speed rail odyssey appears to have finally crossed the Rubicon.
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