The High-Speed Rail Authority (“HSRA”) issued a progress report for the High-Speed Rail Project (the “Project”) last week, describing the HSRA’s challenges and successes to date.
One of the highlights of the report was the HSRA’s January groundbreaking in Fresno for the first segment of the Project’s 520-mile route. The report also discusses the progress the Authority has made with hiring contractors and acquiring parcels along the first segment of the Project.
Most notably, the report describes the challenges it has overcome and the hurdles it is currently facing, particularly the continuing legal challenges to the Project and the funding issues that impede the HSRA’s progress. The HSRA also readily acknowledges the slower-than expected progress in completing environmental assessments for future segments of the project. While the initial estimates contemplated that all assessments for the Project would be completed by the end of 2014, the report now cites to a 2017 deadline.
The report can be found here.