by 
The
last
few
days
have
not
been
good
ones
for
California’s
high
speed
rail
project.
In
fact,
very
very
few
days
in
its
entire
existence
have
been
good
ones
for
the
odious
debacle.
Come
to
think
of
it,
there
has
probably
only
been
one,
ever
–
the
day
it
was
approved
by
voters
and
while
that
was
good
for
the
project
it
was
terrible
for
the
state.
Thursday,
Secretary
of
Transportation
Sean
Duffy
announced
a
federal
audit
of
the
project
and
its
finances.
And
Friday,
the
project’s
own
inspector
general
(IG)
released
a
report
that
can
only
be
called,
um,
less
than
complimentary.
The
IG’s
report
noted
that
there
have
been
massive
problems
with
land
acquisition
and
figuring
out
what
to
do
with
existing
utilities
and
water
canals
and
such.
In
fact,
it
turns
out
the
project
has
been
designing
and
building
things
that
–
once
those
issues
are
finally
settled
–
will
almost
certainly
have
to
be
ripped
up
and
replaced.
The
report
also
noted
other
gaps
in
the
system,
such
as
this
400
foot
space
that
has
no
approved
plan
to
be
fixed
despite
years
of
“work”:
One
supposes
the
passengers
could
get
out
and
walk
around
it,
but
that
would
defeat
the
purpose
of
it
being
“high
speed”
rail.
Note
also
that
the
high
speed
track
is
just
yards
from
the
existing
freight/Amtrak
rail
line,
lending
an
even
greater
level
of
superfluity
to
the
entire
project.
And
just
to
make
sure
everyone
knew
this
was
a
California
project,
the
IG
recommended
hiring
more
lawyers
and
having
the
legislature
pass
a
law
forcing
land
and
utility
owners
to
come
to
terms
more
quickly.
As
to
the
feds,
a
$4
billion
dollar
payout
to
the
system
planned
under
the
Biden
administration
was
supposed
to
take
place
soon
–
Duffy
said
that
will
not
happen
until
they
can
figure
out
where
the
money
has
actually
been
going
(the
feds
already
have
a
billion
or
so
sunk
into
the
project.)
Read
the
rest
of
this
piece
at
The
Point.
Thomas
Buckley
is
the
former
Mayor
of
Lake
Elsinore
and
a
former
newspaper
reporter.
He
is
currently
the
operator
of
a
small
communications
and
planning
consultancy
and
can
be
reached
directly
at
planbuckley@gmail.com.
You
can
read
more
of
his
work
at
thomas699.substack.com.
Photo:
courtesy
The
Point.
Go to Source
Author: Thomas Buckley
