California Delta Tunnels: The Project Is Flowing Along
Just a few month ago, the Delta Tunnels, dubbed the WaterFix, was sputtering due to a lack of funds and environmental hurdles. Governor Jerry Brown’s administration was forced to consider a phased-in approach that called for building one tunnel, followed by a second tunnel only if enough money became available. The tunnel project was… Read more »
Update: Where is the California High-Speed Rail Project Headed?
Nine years after California voters narrowly approved a nearly $10-billion bond to launch the $64-billion statewide High-Speed Rail project, residents and officials are wondering where the project is headed in 2018 and beyond. The narrative being pushed by Gov. Brown and the rail authority is that the project is making steady advances. Opponents tell a… Read more »
High-Speed Rail To Face Audit After Rising Costs
California state lawmakers approved an audit request, made by a team of bipartisan politicians, of the state’s High-Speed Rail project after the projected costs for one segment rose by nearly $3 billion. Officials aim to understand whether the statewide infrastructure plan can be completed on deadline and without more dramatic cost increases. “As a… Read more »
Delta Tunnels Could Be Scaled to a One-Tunnel Project
Faced with scarce political support and incomplete funding from water agencies in California, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration is proposing a scaled-back project to his original $17-billion proposal to build two massive tunnels under that Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta that would make it easier to divert water from Northern to Southern California. Instead of two… Read more »
City Gives Go Ahead to the Army Corps of Engineers to Begin Restoration
A plan to have the Army Corps of Engineers alter the Los Angeles River for the purpose of ecosystem restoration was approved by a Los Angeles City Council committee. The $8.1-million approved plan is part of the larger $1.6-billion effort to revitalize an 11-mile stretch of the river and return it from the concrete channel… Read more »
California High-Speed Rail Project Secures Critical Funds
The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) secured critical funding, nearly $1.2 billion from two major sources, for a Bay Area project that is considered key to completing the $64-billion rail project — making the rail project much more likely. Thumbs up was given to the rail authority to proceed with the $2-billion Caltrain electrification… Read more »
Eminent Domain and Climate Change
The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments earlier this month on whether limiting a permit to replace a seawall that would protect homeowners living on a bluff-top to a 20 year period constituted as a taking of private property. Thomas Frick and Barbara Lynch are challenging whether the California Coastal Commission has the authority to… Read more »
California’s Bullet Train May Cost Much More Than Originally Planned
A confidential report obtained by The Times shows that California’s bullet train is seven years behind schedule and may cost taxpayers 50% more than estimated. The report projects that the first 118-mile segment through Central Valley, which was supposed to be the easiest part of the route between L.A. and San Francisco, could cost $9.5… Read more »
California High Speed Rail Rejected for $15 Billion Loan
The California High-Speed Rail Authority can’t seem to solve their most pressing problem, one that has hung over them since the conception of the project. The state doesn’t know where to find all of the $64-billion it will cost to complete the bullet train that will run from San Francisco to Los Angeles. So,… Read more »
Billions to Be Unlocked After Approval By The High Speed Rail Board
Through a unanimous decision, the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s board, approved to unlock billions of dollars in state bonds funds that it needs to continue construction in the Central Valley and San Francisco-San Jose segments. The board approved $3.2 billion in funding from the nearly $10 billion that voters approved for a California high-speed… Read more »