Anna Miller: ‘Clark County residents please don’t let the mayor of Vancouver; the Chair of the County Council and the C-TRAN Board bring their choo-choo into Vancouver’
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and may not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com
It’s one of those moments where “boondoggle” doesn’t even feel strong enough.
The Trump administration officially revoked $4 billion in federal funding for California’s high-speed rail project citing years of delays, cost overruns, and unmet milestones. The original vision, an 800-mile system connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles and beyond, has been whittled down to a 171-mile stretch between Merced and Bakersfield, with zero miles of high-speed track laid after more than a decade. The only thing high-speed about this project is the speed at which California taxpayer’s money is being flushed.
The project’s estimated cost has ballooned from $33 billion to $128 billion, and the completion date has slipped to 2033 at the earliest. Trump called it the “high-speed train to nowhere.” California Governor Gavin Newsom is fired up that the money spigot for this pet project has been turned off. They did what they always do when they can’t keep bleeding the citizens dry, they file a lawsuit to get the money spigot turned back on.
Meanwhile, the state says it’s entering the track-laying phase and has created over 15,000 jobs so far. Wow, just wow.
Clark County residents please don’t let the mayor of Vancouver; the Chair of the County Council and the C-TRAN Board bring their choo-choo into Vancouver. Light rail is a debt bomb that just keeps going off!
Anna Miller
Camas
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