Posted on 03/16/2010 7:07:25 AM PDT by Willie Green
Balfour Beatty's US subsidiary, Parsons Brinckerhoff, has been awarded three new contracts to manage high-speed and intercity passenger rail projects in Illinois, Ohio and Florida, US.
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDoT) has selected Parsons Brinckerhoff as programme manager for the high-speed rail, 284-mile (457 km) "signature route" from Chicago to St. Louis.
About US$ 1.1 billion in Federal high-speed rail funding has been allocated to this project.
In Ohio the Department of Transport has selected a Parsons Brinckerhoff-led team to provide consultant services for the development of a new 250 miles (400 km) intercity passenger rail service on an existing rail freight corridor in the Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati "3C" corridor.
The project has been awarded funding of US$ 400 million by the Federal Railroad Administration.
In Florida, it will lead a consulting team selected by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDoT) to undertake planning and design of a 230-mile (370 km) high-speed rail line between Orlando and Miami.
Parsons Brinckerhoff is already leading the programme management team overseeing the implementation of the California High-Speed Rail project, an 800-mile (1290 km) long system serving Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego.
The project was recently allocated US$ 2.25 billion in Federal funding in an effort to accelerate construction of the system.
This means Parsons Brinckerhoff is managing projects accounting for US$ 4 billion of the US$ 8 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) high-speed and intercity passenger rail grants awarded by the Federal Government in 2010.
Isn’t Parson’s the firm that messed up the Big Dig in Boston? Must have Democrat insiders.
I thought it was Bechtel that messed up the Big Dig.
Parsons is the one that was the ‘big hole’ in Charlotte, work so poorly done it created a big sink hole. Of course, all these Obama rail car games can be called a big hole.
Isn’t Parson’s the firm that messed up the Big Dig in Boston? Must have Democrat insiders.
Well at least Boston and the Big Dig are here in America.
It nauseates me to think of the billions of US Taxpayer dollars spent to contractors to rebuild Kuwaiti and Iraqi infrastructure while our own infrastructure crumbles and decays.
No. PB didn’t mess up the big dig.
Gee...I wonder if the guy is a big dem donor and supporter??!!
Balfour Beatty is a British firm.
Stimulus for attorneys is all the rail fantasy is anyway. They’ll be fighting the people every inch of the way.
PB is not a construction firm, PB is an A/E firm.
Amtrak makes so much money I can see why we would want to invest in a high speed rail project.</s>
Can you say another Gobmint entitlement program coming soon to a neighborhood near you.
Amtrak makes so much money I can see why we would want to invest in a high speed rail project.
Can you say another Gobmint entitlement program coming soon to a neighborhood near you.
Mushing a dogsled through the frigid wilderness may be fine for you,
but the rest of us would prefer the rapid and comfortable convenience of modern 21st Century high-speed rail.
If it would pay for itself I would not have a problem with it.
The problem arises when I pay for it without ever setting foot on the darned thing.
Government spending on crap like this has to stop. We are broke.
The problem arises when I pay for it without ever setting foot on the darned thing.
Even those who don't ride mass transit benefit because it enhances economic activity and development while reducing traffic congestion!
No government money.
Regarding reducing traffic just how many Miami-to-Orlando travellers are there really on I-95 Northbound and I-4 Westbound? Hint: few. Orlando already has an international airport so who's going to go by train rather then fly or drive? Perhaps the travel will be Orlando-to-Miami so instead of flying directly to Miami international travellers will (have to) fly to Orlando and then take a train to Miami. Woo-hoo, crony capitalism on exhibit!
Funny, all these "High Speed Rail" routes are served by the Greyhound Bus; yet Greyhound already provides faster, more dependable service than the Utopian future "improvements" predicted by Congress.
Would just like to corroborate. I have no investment in Greyhound, but have used it a couple times recently on the east coast, and it has been many years since riding the bus. It was on time, comfortable seating, and the driver was courteous and communicative.
Rail is not the only solution, given that freight has moved en-masse over the years to highway. The latter of course is subsidized to an extent through the Federal Highways (FHWA).
On the other hand those cited rail projects, Orlando-Miami, Cleveland-Cincinnati, etc. of under 300 miles (under 3 hrs?), are a niche appropriately proportioned versus air travel. Air travel also being subsidized to an extent by the FAA.
Monorail Salesman - Simsons Monorail Song.
I agree, let’s pull the plug on the interstate highway system.
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