California high speed rail boondoggle blocked by judge

SOMEBODY FINALLY GOT IT RIGHT!!!

California's plan to squander potentially hundreds of billions of dollars on a "high speed" rail line that would achieve average speeds no higher than railroads routinely achieved a century ago has hit a serious roadblock. Melody Gutierrez of the San Francisco Chronicle reports:

A Sacramento judge put the brakes on California's plans to build a bullet train after dual rulings Monday blocked the sale of $8 billion in bonds and ordered the rail authority to rewrite it sfunding plans for the huge project.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny ruled that there was "no evidence in the record" to support theCalifornia High-Speed Rail Authority's request in March to sell the bonds from Proposition 1A, a $10 billion measure approved by voters in 2008 that allowed the bullet train project to move ahead.

In a separate but related case, the judge sided with the Kings County Board of Supervisorsand two homeowners who sued the rail agency, saying it had failed to detail how the project will be financed, as legally required, before seeking bond money to begin construction.

The judge's rulings leave the future of the $68 billion project in question. The state has been trying to get the first 130-mile segment in the Central Valley built using $3.24 billion in federal funds and $2.61 billion in Prop. 1A bond money. The rail authority has already signed a construction contract to build the first 29 miles of track from Madera to Fresno.

The judge rejected opponents' calls for that contract to be rescinded.

Via: American Thinker

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