High Speed Rail in California hits a pot hole

[Travis]

That pot hole goes by the name of Menlo Park.

In a move they've been telegraphing for weeks, a group of wealthy NIMBYs have convinced the cities of Menlo Park and Atherton to join forces with the Planning and Conservation League....Their claim is that the EIR/EIS that was adopted last month by the California High Speed Rail Authority violates the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) - but what is really going on is that a small coterie of long-time HSR deniers are greenwashing themselves and using the courts to stop one of the most important projects in state history.

Menlo Park and Atherton's objections are perhaps the most absurd. Driven by a handful of wealthy landowners, including Morris Brown and Martin Engel, their argument is that HSR would harm the aesthetics of their wealthy enclave:

The proposed route of the project runs down the heart of Menlo Park and Atherton on a narrow corridor occupied by CalTrain. The necessity of 4 tracks, where there are currently only 2 as well as needing the high 15 foot berm for the rail bed to accommodate grade crossings is of concern to both communities. With a minimum of 100 feet of width needed , as well as overhead catenaries for the electrical power to power the train, the impact in both communities is severe.

This is a comical, classic NIMBY objection. They're arguing that clean, sustainable mass transit, which California so desperately needs, should be stopped because it might not look pretty in two of the state's wealthiest communities?! That they're making an environmental argument is even more ridiculous.

I sure hope that this project doesn't get derailed by idiots like them.

Full article here:http://cahsr.blogspot.com/2008/08/frivolous-lawsuits.html

 

[tyr_13]

They don't want it based on looks? I propose a new route then, right through their houses. That would work. Their current train tracks would remain pristine.

 

[shemp]

Are these guys involved?

 

[BPSCG]

See, that's what happens when you publicize your plans. If they'd taken the approach that the planning office took when it wanted to put a superhighway through the middle of Arthur Dent's house, the thing would have been built by now. As the foreman of the demolition crew explained to Arthur:

"...Mr Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning office for the last nine months."

"Oh yes, well as soon as I heard I went straight round to see them, yesterday afternoon. You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them, had you? I mean, like actually telling anybody or anything."

"But the plans were on display ..."

"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."

"That's the display department."

"With a flashlight."

"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."

"So had the stairs."

"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"

"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'."

From The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

 

[Travis]

They don't want it based on looks? I propose a new route then, right through their houses. That would work. Their current train tracks would remain pristine.

That's sorta how I feel about it too.

 

[dudalb]

Sadly, weathy idiots like these tend to have a lot of political pull.

 

[Travis]

Sadly, weathy idiots like these tend to have a lot of political pull.

Let's hope it's not enough in this case.

 

[BPSCG]

Semi-duplicate post (having connection problems...)

 

[Travis]

Is repeating posts the new "in" thing now?

 

[cwalner]

The delicious irony of this is that this is the area that earned California the nickname of 'The Left Coast' due to its typical support of liberal causes, such as environmentalism, especially by the wealthy. I guess they only support the environment when somebody else has to lose property value to implement thier cause.

 

[dudalb]

Oh I am sure the people opposing this are probably big time supporters of "Going Green"..except when it means they have to make a sacrafice...even a small one.

 

[BenBurch]

We have that here with NIMBYs trying to stop the sale of the EJ&E to the CN.

CN needs it so that freight can avoid the bottleneck that is Chicago, saving fuel, air pollution, and precious human time.

NIMBYs, mostly in upper-class communities, don't want to have to wait for freights at crossings because, you know, its MUCH more important that they be able to get to the video store and back home in 15 minutes. Railroads are SO Plebeian!

 

[technoextreme]

The delicious irony of this is that this is the area that earned California the nickname of 'The Left Coast' due to its typical support of liberal causes, such as environmentalism, especially by the wealthy. I guess they only support the environment when somebody else has to lose property value to implement thier cause.

Hey.... Don't forget Cape Wind. It's the same type of Nimbyism.

 

[Jeff Corey]

Hey.... Don't forget Cape Wind. It's the same type of Nimbyism.

(Firesign Theatre)
How can I forget it if I never heard of it before?

 

[Thunder]

we have Amtrak in the Northeast and NYC/D.C./Boston corridor...and Metro North commuter rail. i dont know anyone who uses it anymore.

 

[Travis]

We have Caltrain here in the Bay Area and in LA which are quite popular and will be nothing, technologically, compared to the awesome High Speed Train that is the subject of this lawsuit. It's expected to hit 375km/h+ on a regular route.

 

[Demigorgon]

Much like a broke person, California should stop buying things anyway.

 

[dudalb]

We have Caltrain here in the Bay Area and in LA which are quite popular and will be nothing, technologically, compared to the awesome High Speed Train that is the subject of this lawsuit. It's expected to hit 375km/h+ on a regular route.

I use CalTrain to go From Sacramento to the SF Bay Area all the time.

225 miles a Hour?
That would make going from Sac to LA via train a real option.

 

[tyr_13]

I found the TGV in France a very good mode of travel, and while I never took the Shinkansen in Japan, I did ride their rails all the time. California seems well suited to Japanese style rail systems, and a good high speed rail specifically.

 

[Beerina]

Much like a broke person, California should stop buying things anyway.

Thank god the rest of the nation's anger at California's runaway idiocy of spending outweighs even California's vote in Congress.

It's easy to cut. They just don't want to lose the next election because they severed some people from the tit of government.


This is why I support a constitutional amendment that if you (voluntarily) accept money from the government, you give up your right to vote in the upcoming election(s).

Conflict of interest. It's that simple.