California is dealing with the largest public money boondoggle in its storied history, which is saying something. Sunchaser buffer.
Voters were told that we would get a high speed rail system connecting up our state and transforming our transportation infrastructure. Instead of that, after going wildly over budget and abusing eminent domain to get land, we will get a slow speed rail (including diesel choo choo) to ferry us between Merced and Bakersfield. “Why the fuck would anyone want that?” is the correct response. As it turns out, the whole fucking thing was never possible, and this was just an old fashioned piece of political corruption, shoveling taxpayer dollars into the pockets of consultants with the right friends.
Our local Democrat rep in DC, Jim Costa, got the federal money for the project to get started here in the San Joaquin Valley by giving Obama a yes vote on Obamacare. O wonder what other transportation projects we could have gotten....
Three of the 10 largest cities not on the Interstate Highway system (Modesto, Bakersfield, Fresno) are on State Route 99. 9 of those 10 cities are in California. These are business hubs for the most productive agricultural region in the world, which might suggest that SR99 is inadequate as a trucking artery, and perhaps might be an economic choke point for our region. How’s about we get some Interstate highways instead (like making 99 an interstate). The green folks like to forget how dependent we are on trucking for the time being, and that trucks make more pollution than cow farts.
Did you say you like trains? Here is a Fresno Amtrak schedule:
Here is where you can go by train from here.
If you wanted to do a train, maybe hook us up to SLO or LA....oh wait, nobody knows how to get a train through the Tehachapi Mountains, which they just ignored with that high speed rail plan. Hmm.
If you think only Republicans are corrupt, look no further than California. We actually need both sides to be strong to balance each other’s worst tendencies. None of them can be trusted, not ever.