Calif. high-speed rail gets $624 million more (funds OH and Wi didn't want)

[n2doc]

Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, December 10, 2010

California received an additional $624 million to start building the $43 billion statewide high-speed rail system in the Central Valley - money that will likely be used to take the initial stretch of rail south to Bakersfield.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday that $1.2 billion in federal high-speed rail funds allocated to Wisconsin and Ohio would be rerouted to other states. Wisconsin and Ohio elected Republican governors who oppose high-speed rail and have asked to spend the funds instead on highway projects.

The new funds bring to $3.2 billion the amount of federal funds awarded to California. Federal railroad officials have said they want their money spent in the San Joaquin Valley. The state's High-Speed Rail Authority last week selected a 54-mile segment from Borden, north of Fresno, to Corcoran, about midway between Fresno and Bakersfield, as the initial section.

The authority would install tracks, and build basic stations in Fresno and the Hanford area, but would not electrify the rails, purchase railcars and locomotives or run trains until the stretch of railroad reached either north toward the Bay Area or south toward Bakersfield. Board members have said the initial stretch of track will be the backbone of a system that will connect San Francisco and Los Angeles, and eventually cover 800 miles; critics have dubbed it "the train to nowhere."



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/09/BAMU1GOIO5.DTL

Well, it's more jobs, anyway.

[gmoney]

1. Huh?

I thought Ohio rejected the funds because Kasich didn't want to add $400 million to the deficit... wonder if he stopped to think the money would just be shifted to California to improve a blue state's infrastructure and create jobs THERE.

Smooth move, Kasich. Cut off your train to appease your base.

[FrancisTreptoe]

3. No he didn't think about that.

because his base is Oil and Finance. I am still hurting from this, when Strickland was a supporter of the 3c-d i was ecstatic, now it just feels like a bad dream. California is going to greatly benefit from this and the states that need it the most (Ohio and Wisconsin) are going to be hurting from this for years to come.

Infrastructure should never ever ever be a partisan issue, especially infrastructure that will benefit everybody.

[tcaudilllg]

4. Kasich is a criminal, remember?

[ChoppinBroccoli]

8. Let's Be Clear About This

Ohio turned down that money because KASICH didn't want high speed rail. NOT because Ohio didn't want it.

Just the first salvo of many to come from this A-hole. The people of Ohio seriously have no idea what they just did electing this con artist. He will spend the next 4 years looting every dime he can find to give to his big business buddies, and there may be little but wreckage left when he gets done. Make no mistake, in 4 years, Ohioans will rush to the polls to vote him out, but by then, it might all be too late. I mean, Good Lord, he's packing his advisory with staff with former TAFT staffers. That's right, the most hated, incompetent, bungling, criminal governor Ohio has ever had. And this guy is about to make him look like an amateur.

[gmoney]

12. Right, that's what I said... Kasich turned it down.

I agree... he's going to be a horrible governor, and is going to ruin Ohio more than it already is.

[EnviroBat]

17. I fear it's already too late.

This asshole got elected by a majority of brain-dead fuck-ups. The fucker isn't qualified to greet customers at a WalMart much less pretend to be a governor. I hate that smug prick. I've been looking to leave this state, if not this country all together. Just waiting for my girl to finish her degree, then Ohio, and the fucking stupid assholes that make up the populace can suck it.

[HereSince1628]

2. It would probably be more correct to say WI Gov Elect didn't want

the high speed rail project. Many people along the corridor wanted it. Minnesotans certainly wanted it, and it's unclear how a self-sustaining highspeed rail linking of Minneapolis to Chicago will work without it.

The WI governor elect has stated he is against everything Obama is for. Strange co-dependent way to make decisions but there it is.

[GSLevel9]

5. that project's a fuckin' disaster.

Projected to cost as much as 80 Billion and the proponents have been guaranteeing people it will cost similar to an airfare. ell an aifae from LA to SF is about $129 r/t

[kestrel91316]

11. Flying is a fricking hassle, though. Given a choice between high-speed rail to

SF for $129 and flying there from either Burbank or LAX for $129, the rail wins with me HANDS DOWN.

[GSLevel9]

21. When you put it that way...

I agree! But still... They don't own the land yet or know the exact route and why can't a project stick to budget?

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

6. Good for Cali!

:toast:

[HughBeaumont]

7. More like funds the two Fascist governor-elects didn't want.

My state fucking sucks. Nothing but a bunch of goddamned undereducated idiots surrounding Columbus and NE Ohio. Kasich. Way to go, shit-for-brains. Hope you like Slow-Hio being run like a business by a Fox "News" alumnus.

[EnviroBat]

16. Hey there man...

I grew up in Sheffield Lake right next door to you. I hate this stupid state too. Ohio, 99.8% retarded.

[HughBeaumont]

19. BIL lives there. Holy shiznit . . .

. . . everytime I go to their carnival on the 4th, I'm looking at these people going "Is this Sheffield Lake now or America 12 years ago?" Not surprisingly, both SL and AL are loaded to the brim with churches and left-hatin', pro-lifer evangelicals and both had Kasich/Taylor signs in every other yard. Yeeeeeesh.

I remember back in 2004 when Der Failure Fratster stole another election (thanks, Blackwell!), they interviewed someone from Sheffield Lake about the "evangelical" factor . . . they made sure to tell the reporter something to the effect of "I don't blame the president for the bad economic situation. Everyone has the opportunity to be successful just the same in this country". :puke:

[ljm2002]

9. I hope they send the rest to Nevada...

...so we can build a proposed maglev between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. That would be sweet!

[FarCenter]

10. Would be nice if CA used it to build tracks instead of doing studies

[thereismore]

13. Woohoo! Sorry. I'll take it right here, in CA. We pay more taxes anyway. nt

[mimitabby]

14. then there's florida

apparently Florida gets the second biggest chunk but the governor there is still trying to decide whether or not he wants it.
That leaves more for us (Washington and the other 11 states)

[EnviroBat]

15. HAHAHAHAHAH Kasich you stupid fuck...

:rofl:

This new Governor, what a complete asshole of a failure, and he's not even in office yet.

[backscatter712]

18. California's gonna end up looking like the Jetsons while Ohio & Wisconsin fall apart.

I'd call this an object lesson for all the ignant Archie Bunkers out there who voted for the Tea Party...

[JDPriestly]

20. Woohoo. We need this fast rail out here in California.

We need fast rail, and we need the jobs that the fast rail work will provide.

But most of all, we need a fast alternative to air travel to get from L.A. to Sacramento and the Bay area.

I've driven it several times. It's an exhausting route. We need a really fast train.

I wonder whether this rail could also be used for freight. That would diminish a lot of the traffic congestion in big cities in California and reduce the amount of money and space used for freeways as well as the speed of commutes.