Will Unfinished Train Overpasses Become California's Stonehenge?

Townhall.com ^ | January 25, 2018 | Victor Davis Hanson

[Kaslin]

Nobody quite knows who built Stonehenge some 5,000 years ago in southern England. The mysterious ring of huge stone monoliths stands mute.

Californians may leave behind similarly enigmatic monuments for puzzled future generations. Along a 119-mile pathway in central California from Bakersfield to Madera, there are now huge, quarter-finished cement overpasses. These are the totems of the initial segment of a planned high-speed-rail corridor.

Californians thought high-speed rail was a great idea when they voted for it in 2008. The state is overwhelmingly progressive. Silicon Valley reflects California's confidence in new-age technology. Californians are among the highest-taxed citizens in the nation. They apparently are not opposed to borrowing and spending for ambitious government projects -- especially to alleviate crowded freeways.

Planners assured voters that the cost for the first 520 miles was going to be an "affordable" $33 billion. The rail line seemed a good way to connect the state's economically depressed interior with the affluent coastal corridor.

The segment from Madera to Bakersfield was thought to be the easiest to build. Rural land was cheaper to acquire in the interior of California. The route was flat, without the need to bore tunnels. The valley is considered seismically stable. Economically depressed counties welcomed the state and federal investment dollars.

But projected coasts have soared even before one foot of track has been laid. The entire project's estimated costs, according to various projections, may have nearly doubled. The current cost for the easiest first segment alone has spiraled from a promised $7.8 billion in 2016 to an estimated $10.6. There is no assurance that enough Central Valley riders will wish to use the line.

[Kaslin]

Victor Davis Hanson Column

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[Joe 6-pack]

The only thing even remotely surprising about that photo is that the columns have not been tagged with gang graffiti.

[Vaquero]

A possible use!

[Doogle]

....make it a monument to Odungo, Pelosi, and Moonbeam

[Vaquero]

Visionaries

[knarf]

A blast from the past.

[Vaquero]

Best ‘Who’ album to date.

[bagster]

Damn. As if my neck of the woods needs help getting any uglier.

Thanks, Moonbeam.

[Big Red Badger]

Columns to “The unknown god.”

[treetopsandroofs]

“Unfinished” overpasses....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTtBN34AXl0

[COBOL2Java]

Who’s next?

[Mercat]

https://youtu.be/Pyh1Va_mYWI

[Lisbon1940]

You can get to Bakersfield really fast, then board a bus to the City of Angels.

[Beowulf9]

I hear Spinal Tap could use new props.

[Damifino]

Florida already has the concrete monoliths - Relics of the unfinished Florida Barge Canal. It was intended to create a waterway from the Gulf at Crystal River to the St. Johns river to the Atlantic. It was squashed by environmentalists and is now the Cross Florida Greenway.

I walked the length of the Greenway a few Summers ago. About a hundred miles. The first 10 or so miles does have the canal. I saw more wildlife in the 10 miles along the canal than I did in all of the remaining.

[FreedomPoster]

>90% of the time, trains are a 19th Century solution to 21st Century transportation problems. With the autonomous car on the near horizon and likely to vastly transform transportation, trains look even more foolish.

[DuncanWaring]

Nope.

[bagster]

I think the idea is to go the other way. Who wants to go to Bakersfield?

#UgliestCityInCal

[Lurker]

I’m partial to Quadrophenia myself. But that one is very, very good.

L