California’s $11 Billion Rail Bridge That Doesn’t Go Anywhere
California is taking heat for celebrating the completion of a high-speed rail bridge that has cost taxpayers $11 billion and took nine years to build — and goes nowhere
Critics — including Tesla founder Elon Musk and Dogecoin creator Billy Markus — are ripping the California High-Speed Rail Authority after it boasted about last year’s completion of a “Fresno River Viaduct,” a mere sliver of the state’s long-delayed, bullet-train project attempting to link San Francisco to Los Angeles.
“This is the most remarkable human achievement ever,” joked Markus, the creator of the jokey cryptocurrency, on X Friday.
this is the most remarkable human achievement ever, 1600 feet of high speed rail after 9 years and 11 billion dollars
it takes about 5 minutes to walk 1600 feet so a high speed rail for that is a really big deal
california is so competent https://t.co/Uff4LT57tZ
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) May 3, 2024
“Sixteen-hundred feet of high-speed rail after nine years and 11 billion dollars. It takes about five minutes to walk 1,600 feet so a high-speed rail for that is a really big deal,” added Markus, who also goes by “Shibetoshi Nakamoto.”
“California is so competent.”
Musk also chimed in, posting a sad, crying emoji to express his sentiments about the boondoggle of a project that is reportedly in danger of being scrapped.
😢
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 4, 2024
That’s despite $11 billion in taxpayer dollars that have already been sunk into the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco high-speed rail project.
That figure includes both the bridge and other work on the first phase of the high-speed route — which runs from Bakersfield north of Los Angeles to Merced, which is about 80 miles from the Bay Area.
Critics were responding to an earlier post by the rail authority, touting that the Fresno River Viaduct in Madera County is one of the “first completed high-speed rail structures.”
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Header image: High Speed Rail Authority
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In New Zealand we have a “Bridge to Nowhere”. It crosses the Wanganui River.
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