California officials have been ridiculed over a “billion dollar” bridge to nowhere.
The state government of California has long planned a high-speed rail project from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
Although initial financing was approved in 2008, the line is still a long way off and is expected to cost more than $100 billion in total.
So far, construction has only begun on the initial phase and more funding has been used for future environmental planning in the Phase I System.
However, the California High Speed Rail Authority recently released one of the completed sections of construction – completed in 2018 and costing $1 billion on its own.
This is a 0.3-mile stretch of bridge called the Fresno River Viaduct in Madera County, and it has attracted ridicule for going from nowhere to nowhere.
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Photos shared by the authority of the bridge show it is not connected to anything at either end, with some claiming it is indicative of a wider project.
It runs above a road and near several houses – parallel to another railway line – but is currently of no use.
Elon Musk poked fun at the recent construction post X, with the billionaire posting a crying emoji in response to news of the project.
Others also took to social media.
However, several of those who criticized him made false claims about the viaduct, its cost and the time required to complete it.
Since it was completed six years ago after three years of construction, dozens of other structures have been completed and there are more than 100 miles of active construction across the project.
Due to the vast scale of high-speed rail, they are often complex, expensive and time-consuming projects – and California’s high-speed rail is no different.
The railway would come into use in the early 2030s, but its dismantling remains a possibility.
California High Speed Rail has been contacted for comment.
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