Meanwhile, the genius long-term planners we pay gazillions in taxes for?
Tore up railways all over the place to make bike paths.
The rail routes that were converted into bike trails were unviable for the railroads and were abandoned long before. Railroads have significant threshold costs for maintenance of way, bridge maintenance, signaling, insurance, property taxes, etc., and at some level of traffic - it’s not worth owning and operating over it. The rail network flourished in the 1880’s and then started shrinking in the 1920’s. The number of rail miles ever operated at its peak is a large multiple of what is economically feasible to operate today.
The news media repeats this story over and over, never going more than a thimble deep. Which unions are involved? What are the specific details of the bargaining issues involved? Don’t hold your breath for answers...