Re: Same Stuff-Different Day.... "Northern" California HSR....?
Author: J Mann
Date: 08-10-2018 - 10:11
That's funny. A big project is being done in California and the LA area isn't the first to get money spent so they're whining. 50 years ago, when I was a kid in San Jose we used to complain that the LA area was getting all of the highway funds. We had the I280/101 interchange partially built for about 20 years before Caltrans finally finished it. We also weren't too happy that northern California tax money was paying for the California Aqueduct to take Northern California water to the LA area so that they could build houses out in the desert. In all fairness to that project I have heard that San Jose now gets about 1/3 of its water from the California Aqueduct. But then again, San Jose is grossly overbuilt.
But realistically, the only reason the money is already being spent on the Northern California projects is because they are more "shovel ready". The plans to electrify Caltrain has been around for a while along with the idea of extending the line to the Transbay Terminal. At least the money being spent on Caltrain will actually get a positive return on investment. A lot of people use it. Increased and better service will encourage even more people to use it. You can't say that about the money being spent in the Central Valley.