Consider those who will oppose the route--any route--selected. The NIMBY effect will raise holy hell due to property condemnation (people required to leave their homes), degraded property values for those who live nearby, issues of noise, perceived safety and evironmental hazards, diversity issues, perceived business disruption and losses, etc. And how about endangered species, habitat mitigation, archeological/cultural concerns, etc.? Wherever it goes, someone (many of them, I'm sure) will be disadvantaged, inconvenienced, or outraged. This will put the project in the courts for years--perhaps decades--before work can commence, let alone be completed. As I've said before, what private capital will invest in such a scheme when there is no prospect of return for all those years? This isn't the 1860s, and the Big Four are all dead . . . .