内容摘要：that could suck away more revenue, as well as the nation’s limit on how much it can borrow.

that could suck away more revenue, as well as the nation’s limit on how much it can borrow.

“In the ideal world, you can take the 500 miles, build it in your warehouse and then just drop it and everybody’s happy,” Choudri said. “But the programs are never built like that. You build incrementally and that’s what we’re doing right now.”Critics say the project will never be completed and may leave towering and unusable infrastructure stretching through the state’s agricultural heartland. More than 50 structures have already been built, including underpasses, viaducts and bridges to separate the rail line from existing roadways for safety.

The Cedar Viaduct, designed to take high-speed trains over Cedar and North avenues and State Route 99, is shown in an aerial view, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Fresno, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)The Cedar Viaduct, designed to take high-speed trains over Cedar and North avenues and State Route 99, is shown in an aerial view, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Fresno, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)“We’ve now spent billions of dollars and really no tracks have been laid,” said Republican state Sen. Tony Strickland, who is vice chair of the Senate Transportation Committee.

Doug Verboon, chair of the Kings County Board of Supervisors, who has fought the High-Speed Rail Authority in court over farmers’ loss of land due to the project, said the people who should be most upset by delays are its longtime supporters.“It doesn’t seem to me like the state government is in a hurry to finish it,” he said.

Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.

is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X:The sun sets in the horizon as Ned Ahgupuk and his girlfriend, Kelsi Rock, piggybacking their 1-year-old son, Steven, stroll along the beach on the Arctic Ocean in Shishmaref, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The sun sets in the horizon as Ned Ahgupuk and his girlfriend, Kelsi Rock, piggybacking their 1-year-old son, Steven, stroll along the beach on the Arctic Ocean in Shishmaref, Alaska, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Boats used for seal hunting are kept in the lagoon side of Shishmaref, Alaska, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Boats used for seal hunting are kept in the lagoon side of Shishmaref, Alaska, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Bering Air agent Denis Sinnok shuts the door of a Cessna plane at the air strip after unloading the dozens of boxes of Eggo waffles and other goods in Shishmaref, Alaska, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)