The Oregon and Washington departments of transportation have received an additional $26.5 million in grants for development of a high-speed rail line between Eugene and Vancouver, British Columbia.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the award today along with $2.4 billion for high-speed rail development projects around the country - money that we don't have.
The Oregon state government agency will spend $4.2 million on planning and environmental studies between Eugene and Portland, and another $4 million on engineering and environmental studies related to rendering Portland's Union Station compatible with a high-speed line. Washington's state agency will waste the rest of the cash on similar planning and environmental studies in Seattle.
$26.5 million on "planning" and "studies". Heck, Portland could have built half an aerial tram for that kind of dough.
Max, your math is wrong. Portland only could have built 40.7% of an aerial tram for that much.
Posted by: Jeff Reynolds | October 31, 2010 at 11:48 PM
Washington received $31 million that will be spent wisely on seismically retrofitting Seattle's King Street Station and transforming a temporary platform in Tukwila, to a modern full-service station. The money also goes to building passing lanes in Mount Vernon so freight and passenger trains can go around each other.
Posted by: Melaine Coon, WSDOT | November 01, 2010 at 08:29 AM
Jeff, I was rounding. ;-)
Melanie,
How, exactly, do you wisely spend money that we don't have? Is there something about the term that folks at WSDOT find insurmountably difficult to understand?
These may be desirable projects, but they are not necessary.
Personally, I think it's desirable to drive a DeLorean - but I drive a Honda. Why?
This will come as a shock, so brace yourself:
I can afford the Honda.
The gas tank only needs filling once a month. Granted, it doesn't burn up the road like a DeLorean, but it gets me where I need to go, and reliably.
It may not be flashy, and it may not be desirable, but it's affordable and reliable. By contrast, it appears that you believe that the grant money to "pay" for your desirable projects simply appears, as if by magic.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but have you taken a look at the debt counter in the upper right corner? Right now, you and I are each nearly $45,000 in debt - along with every other man, woman, and child in America.
And projects such as those you defend are ratcheting that debt up ever further.
So tell me, Melanie: How do you propose to pay off your share?
Posted by: Max | November 01, 2010 at 04:03 PM