Bowing to increased opposition in the Central Valley, the struggling rail authority asked for an additional 2 weeks before releasing its business plan, a key document the legislature has requested. Deadlines loom.
In order to have access to the full $6.3 billion in funding to begin building the 140-mile Central Valley segment, construction must begin in 2012. A looming deadline is Jan. 1 when the state legislature must approve their business plan.
"They have to answer some very skeptical legislators and general public with an adequate business plan," said state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach). "Every report until now has been challenged. Let's deal with reality for a change."
"The plan will include new projections on construction costs, ridership and passenger fares. In another report expected next month, the authority also is supposed to identify the sources of money to build the system."
The authority has a new, well-financed opponent in the Central Valley to confront in the nation's largest farm, J.G. Boswell Co., who claims that the tracks will "shut down a company cotton gin complex, seed oil plant, private airport and maze of irrigation canals and levees, according to a company attorney."
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