It looks as though high speed rail in California is going to move just a little bit slower.
The San Jose Mercury News recently published an article citing a delay in the start to construction on the groundbreaking project. According to the Mercury, rails officials said in a statement released to the press that construction would be delayed a “few months,” on top of what has already become more than a year of setbacks.
Among some of the signs for delay, the author writes, are a lack of equipment (bulldozers, heavy machinery, etc…), an uncertainty about finished designs, workers yet to be hired, and a pair of pending lawsuits that could cause even further problems for rail authority CEO Jeff Morales.
The project has been marred in controversy since it was approved, at a $10 billion cost, by voters five years ago, the article says. Some critics, like the project’s former chairman Quentin Kopp, are dubious as to it’s success. Kopp told the Mercury News, “The future of this plan is in doubt… I don’t know how (the state) could even mention starting construction with pending litigation. It’s irresponsible.”
Morales, however, remains confident that state will meet a September 2017 deadline to spend $3 billion in federal money allocated for the program. Though critics insist a start date is non-existent, Morales feels quite the opposite. According to the article, Morales told reporters the real genesis of the project occurred 14 months ago, when construction of the first 130 miles from Merced to Bakersfield was authorized by the state legislature.
The two cases pending against the project are set to occur soon. One will head to trial in the next week to determine the rail authority will be penalized for violated two ballot measure points when lobbying for the project, and the other brought forth by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, as well as a number of other plaintiffs, to shut down the rail line altogether.
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