Re: But you need a highway to spend real money.
Author: FUD
Date: 03-29-2024 - 11:56
How much did Muni's recent Big Dig cost? Caltrain (eventually HSR) at <$2B for access to the terminal may a comparative bargain. Then, look at the recent estimates for the last 6 miles of BART in San Jose - only a few $B less than the ~120-mile HSR line between Madera and Bakersfield (though of course expected to carry many more passengers than HSR in the Valley).
In the big picture, Clem's right: the Caltrain extension to the terminal should be part of a bigger transbay tube project. But that's not happening in most of our (pre-Gen-Z) lifetimes.
And yes, you can't spend real money without building roads. Given modern prices, for instance, does anybody really expect that Baltimore fiasco will be fixed for less than $10B? Remember the Bay Bridge East Span...