16 February 2006

$300M per Mile

That's the breakdown of the price tag for an extension of the redline along Wilshire Blvd. all the way to the sea.

First these projects never get done without going over cost so the projected $4.8B will probably balloon above $10B, second ten years of construction related delays through the already impacted area will cripple traffic and business in the area. Third in ten years other technologies other than subways may be far more feasible, flexible and cost effective. Why build late 19th Century transportation for the beginning of the 21st Century?

I'll use it when it's done (I've even ridden the subway, and MetroLink as it exists now, not everyone in L.A. must drive cars all the time) and I'm glad that it will be coming through Santa Monica. But it's about 30 years later than it should have been.

And I still say blimps are the answer (and Rep. Henry Waxman is still primarily to blame for the 30 year delay in this project)

No comments: