LETTER: High-speed rail and Charlie Brown

On the subject of the high-speed rail project from Las Vegas to Southern California, didn’t someone once say that the definition of insanity was repeating a process and expecting a different outcome?

There is currently a high-speed rail project going on in California right now, ostensibly linking Los Angeles to San Francisco that is nowhere near completion. According a recent Los Angeles Times article, that project was approved in 2008 with completion estimated by 2020 for the 494-mile route. The current estimate for completion of a 171-mile segment between Bakersfield and Merced is now between 2030 and 2033. They are looking at $35 billion shortfall to complete this section and another $100 billion for the remainder with no idea where the additional funding will come from.

Environmental review delays, lawsuits and apparent incompetence have all contributed to this boondoggle.

Remember when California Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to have Interstate 15 widened to alleviate traffic near Primm? How long did that take due to California’s bloated bureaucracy? And now everyone is slapping themselves on the back for a job well done to kick off a project that looks more like Charlie Brown trying again to kick the football.