Latest news with #BigDig
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
California's $100bn railway to nowhere exposes the stunning costs of Democrat incompetence
The latest broadside in the seemingly unending war between President Trump and California Governor Newsom came with a presidential attack on the state's long-delayed, over-budget high-speed rail project. Trump, who seems determined to stop federal funding for the project, even suggested that its dire problems will pose a challenge for Newsom as he gets ready for a run for the 2028 Democratic nomination. If Newsom were prone to self-reflection, he'd admit that the line – intended to connect LA and San Francisco – is an embarrassment. The rail authority estimated in 2008, when voters approved $9 billion for the system, that it would cost $33 billion and start running by 2020. The projected cost has since ballooned to over $100 billion. Governing magazine, hardly a voice for less public spending, placed the blame largely on incompetence – 'uncoordinated planning' that ignored basic construction logistics and bent to the need to please political factions. Indeed, the route was in large part sold to people in the state's hard-pressed interior as an economic boon, which ignores the nature of the area, whose economy is largely based on agriculture, manufacturing and oil. Wider truck lines for congested freeways would make far more economic sense. Many projects go over budget, but, as the president has suggested, for once plausibly, the California high-speed train may be 'the worst managed project' he'd ever seen. Even progressives are aware of this failure. The first to jump off the train, so to speak, was Kevin Drum at Mother Jones a decade ago, who called the project 'ridiculous'. He assaulted the cost overruns and absurd ridership projections. More recently, the train was singled out for infamy by the authors of Abundance. This new progressive bible, which embraces all the memes of the Left, for example on urban density and climate, expresses horror at how the train has been delayed and has escalated in cost. Today, even Democrats like former California State Speaker Anthony Rendon admit that there is 'no confidence' in the project and have been far from anxious to pour more good money after bad. Unless there is an unanticipated flow of state funds, the Legislative Analyst's Office suggests that the project could grind to a halt within 15 months. There is now only enough money, and perhaps not even that, for a line from agriculture and oil-dominated Bakersfield to even more rustic Merced. Not exactly the glamorous LA-San Francisco route originally mooted, much less something to rival the lines connecting Tokyo to Osaka or Paris to Lyon. Despite being described by Hoover Institute economist Lee Ohanian as 'the greatest infrastructure failure in the history of the country', the California disaster does admittedly have a great deal of competition. A similar pattern can be seen in the slow pace of repairs to the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore's Harbour. Boston's Big Dig (Central Artery/Tunnel Project) was plagued by cost overruns and delays, eventually coming in at nearly $25 billion, $10 billion more than previously reported. In fact, the entire transit industry, a favourite target for investment among progressives and greens, is stymied by what the Marron Institute at New York University found were 'among the highest transit-infrastructure costs in the world' – far higher than not only China, which can ascribe to less cumbersome processes, but the likes of Sweden, Italy, and Turkey as well. Phase one of New York's Second Avenue Subway, Marron notes, clocked in at 8 to 12 times more expensive than what the international analysis suggested should be the baseline cost, reflecting strict overtime rules, local union agreements that limit the available labour pools geographically, and an unwillingness to address staffing and labour agreements. But even in this world of lavish overruns, Newsom's California stands in a league of its own. Back in 2015, UC Berkeley scholar Karen Trapenberg Frick outlined how the cost of replacing the eastern section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge rose from an estimated price of $250 million in 1995 to $6.5 billion by September 2013. This was in part due to political pressures from elected officials, according to a report prepared for a state Senate committee. But nothing quite matches the incompetence and overspending of Newsom's choo-choo. It has likely undermined support for building a national network of high-speed trains, something promoted in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal. Despite the green visions, high-speed trains seem a bit of a step back – the St Louis Post-Dispatch labelled them 'a bridge to the 19th century'. In a world where most people drive, and many commute from home, the idea of sinking tens of billions into high-speed projects seems a poor bet, as Britain has already found with the cancellation of large parts of the HS2 project. Even in China, where political opposition is verboten, the choo-choos have been plagued by corruption, rising costs and massive indebtedness. Under Biden, Newsom enjoyed large lumps of gravy for his train, but under Trump, he is now likely to have to choose between funding the money-mad rail network or doing such basic things as balancing his budget and facing California's gargantuan public employee pension costs, as well as paying for healthcare for the state's estimated 2.5 million undocumented immigrants. The overpriced choo-choo reflects the ultimate dilemma for Democrats like Newsom. In the 1930s and 1940, under Democrats, American ingenuity produced the infrastructure that underpinned the world's largest industrial economy – the Hoover Dam, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and countless bridges, roads, and other critical infrastructure. Today's presumed heirs of FDR still talk big about infrastructure, but are loath to offend public unions, green lobby groups and progressive non-profits. Most of the successful case studies on infrastructure come from red states like Florida, which built its new train lines at something approaching original costs and deadlines. If you want to advocate for more government, perhaps it's best to prove that you can do this efficiently. Newsom's high-speed rail line proves that, for now, the progressives are prisoners of their own massive incompetence. Joel Kotkin is presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University and senior research fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
CBS News
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Many say Boston's Copley Square has lost its charm with new design
Copley Square Park was once a green space, but after a multi-year remodel, it was partially reopened with a new design that many Bostonians aren't loving. The grass has been replaced with cement pathways meant to make gathering easier. 'Brick and concrete' Bostonians are voicing their displeasure over the new concrete jungle."There's ... seems to be just kind of brick and concrete ... something," said Tedd York, who eats his lunch in the park. "Before, it was a beautiful field, lots of space to gather and have picnics, and people are sad that we lost it," said Rosa Bestmann, another neighbor who had her lunch in the plaza. People have a slew of adjectives and analogies to describe the new space. One person called it "sterile and soulless." He said Copley went from a park to a skatepark. "When I visited as a kid, my Dad lived here, and we'd always sit in the plaza on the grass," said Bestmann. "I'm happy that it's back. I think that a community space is a space." Green spaces coming The park has been closed since July 2023. Since then, it has been undergoing an $18.9 million overhaul. Mayor Michelle Wu announced a partial reopening of the park before the Boston Marathon, and now she is hearing the critiques. "This is the result of months and months of community conversations, and so I am excited for what this will mean - a more walkable, vibrant space for everyone," said Wu. Renderings of the design do show smaller lawn spaces in the back of the park. However, those are currently under construction. There is a yellow tulip feature at one end of the park that is drawing plenty of onlookers. Right now, it is the only green space in the park. Beyond the aesthetics, the long completion time has some folks cracking Big Dig jokes. The expectation is that the city will continue its remodel through the spring by finishing the fountains and lawn areas. By then, it may show shades of its old self. "There's a tortoise and a hare (statue). I don't know if that's a joke because it took so long," laughed York.
Axios
15-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
Decatur to begin $8.5 million downtown square overhaul
The heart of Decatur's downtown is getting an overdue overhaul. Driving the news: On Thursday, Decatur leaders will ceremoniously break ground on the $8.5 million expansion of the square and popular plaza that sits in the heart of the city's most walkable area and neighbors a MARTA station that connects directly to Downtown Atlanta. The big picture: The 12-month project, which the city hopes to finish before next summer's FIFA World Cup matches, aims to give one of metro Atlanta's downtown success stories a community space that encourages people to stick around and enjoy the square. Zoom in: Decatur's " Square Shake-Up" plan increases the size of the square and lawn, adds a "hillside" children's play area and swaps out the bandstand with a stage that can host concerts, performances and movie screenings. In addition, expect a redesigned MARTA bus terminal, larger open spaces and, importantly, public restrooms. Context: Funded by a DeKalb County sales tax earmarked for special projects, the overhaul stems from Decatur's Town Plan 2.0, the first major initiative in decades to improve the square and plaza. A second phase — timeline to be decided — would include an outdoor pavilion, splash pad and more seating. What they're saying:"The city hopes the project "sends a clear message that we aren't resting on our laurels when it comes to making Decatur the best it can be for all stakeholders," Angela Threadgill, Decatur's assistant city manager for community and economic development, said in a statement. Flashback: In 2007, the city spent $5 million to give the square a makeover — a project officials dubbed the "Little Dig," a riff on Boston's problem-plagued yet transformative "Big Dig" project."
CBS News
20-02-2025
- General
- CBS News
There's a massive model of Boston inside City Hall. Here's how you can see it for free.
There's a room in Boston City Hall where you can see the entire city all at once. The planning department's model room is a large, open space that houses a 1:40 inch scale, three-dimensional replica of downtown Boston and several surrounding neighborhoods. Boston City Hall's model room "Every time a person walks in here, I know what the first sound coming out of their mouth will be. It'll be 'wow.' It's universal, regardless of which country they come from, that word is 'wow,'" said Prataap Patrose of the Boston Planning Department. Patrose has been with the department for about 40 years and his office is across the hall from the room. Over the years, the model has featured every building, road and contour of the city and it's grown and changed along with the real thing. "When I got to Boston in 1980, this was sitting where the Greenway is sitting today and it was like a literal wall between downtown and the waterfront," said Patrose, as he held a model of the Central Artery that was removed after the Big Dig. The model serves an important purpose for city planners. "A planning tool" "We use it as a planning tool to understand how might different interventions, like a new building being proposed or a new area of the city being developed, how might that visually be and physically be manifested," said Patrose. Patrose used a section of Dorchester Avenue as an example. He removed a triangular area full of warehouses and replaced it with a sectional model that has new streets, residential towers and open green spaces. The basswood buildings are made in house. "It took five people to get the base model built over roughly a 10-to-15 year period and since then we've been adding pieces to it as the city has been evolving," Patrose said.
