Post by jeffe77 on Apr 5, 2007 11:56:14 GMT -8
An Article from OC Register - The viewpoints and opinions expressed in this article doesn't reflect my viewpoint on this matter.
www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/huntingtonbeach/columns/article_1643287.php
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Bill Borden: Would you want a rail line to Disneyland?
By BILL BORDEN
AS I SEE IT
Believe it or not, there is still a railroad right-of-way running through Huntington Beach. What's left of it runs north and south, just west of Beach Boulevard from Garfield Avenue north to the city limits.
I can recall being stopped for a short while from time to time by a slow flatcar delivering building materials to a yard on Gothard. These tracks are very seldom used, and frankly, we like it that way.
Unfortunately for rail-reluctant residents of our city, the Orange County Transit Authority has an idea that might bring back the stench of diesel fuel and the roar of locomotives to a long stretch of newly lain track right through the heart of our peaceful hometown.
In its infinite wisdom, OCTA has devised a plan called the Go Local program. The program pushes for a study to determine the feasibility of establishing a rail line between Surf City and the Disneyland Metrolink station..
To make this bureaucratic and almost impossible-to-swallow pill of an idea go down, OCTA is offering us $100,000 in grant money just to think it over.
Get this – the OCTA, evidently flush with cash, has set aside $30 million in grants for the cities involved. We are supposed to be impressed and grateful for the OCTA's largess in coming across with $30 million, but let's put it in perspective:
This is not the OCTA's money, it's ours – yours and mine, collected from those who reside in one of the most heavily taxed counties in the nation.
This outrageous waste of money being noted, what are the other considerations?
First, there is the why. Why in the world do we need a railroad line from Huntington Beach to Disneyland?
It is certainly not for the residents' convenience. Wanna build a railroad? Build one to a local airport, not Disneyland.
Second, of course, is the tourist-serving feature. The tourist is key to our revenue generation to be sure, but will this increase sales volume or diminish it?
We spend big bucks promoting our excellent restaurants, our 8-mile beachfront and some of the finest hotels on the West Coast. Tourists are getting the message; they are coming here in droves.
Now why in the world do we want to send them to Disneyland? Sell Donald and Mickey bobbleheads on the pier; keep the visitors in Surf City.
Third is the enormity of the engineering project. Imagine digging up and replacing miles of railroad tracks, constructing overpasses or tunnels and displacing thousands of longtime residents through eminent domain.
Big Brother ideas like this, pushed on us by governmental agencies outside of our city and having potentially enormous negative impact on us, really set me off.
However, having been a student of Big Brother bureaucracies for decades, I should have no fear. They will never pull this off. The people in Huntington Beach are too smart and too feisty to be conned by OCTA, at least not in my lifetime.
If you want to learn more about this incredibly ill-conceived plan, go to www.surfcity-hb.org and click on Go Local.
Contact the writer: wtborden@aol.com
www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/huntingtonbeach/columns/article_1643287.php
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Bill Borden: Would you want a rail line to Disneyland?
By BILL BORDEN
AS I SEE IT
Believe it or not, there is still a railroad right-of-way running through Huntington Beach. What's left of it runs north and south, just west of Beach Boulevard from Garfield Avenue north to the city limits.
I can recall being stopped for a short while from time to time by a slow flatcar delivering building materials to a yard on Gothard. These tracks are very seldom used, and frankly, we like it that way.
Unfortunately for rail-reluctant residents of our city, the Orange County Transit Authority has an idea that might bring back the stench of diesel fuel and the roar of locomotives to a long stretch of newly lain track right through the heart of our peaceful hometown.
In its infinite wisdom, OCTA has devised a plan called the Go Local program. The program pushes for a study to determine the feasibility of establishing a rail line between Surf City and the Disneyland Metrolink station..
To make this bureaucratic and almost impossible-to-swallow pill of an idea go down, OCTA is offering us $100,000 in grant money just to think it over.
Get this – the OCTA, evidently flush with cash, has set aside $30 million in grants for the cities involved. We are supposed to be impressed and grateful for the OCTA's largess in coming across with $30 million, but let's put it in perspective:
This is not the OCTA's money, it's ours – yours and mine, collected from those who reside in one of the most heavily taxed counties in the nation.
This outrageous waste of money being noted, what are the other considerations?
First, there is the why. Why in the world do we need a railroad line from Huntington Beach to Disneyland?
It is certainly not for the residents' convenience. Wanna build a railroad? Build one to a local airport, not Disneyland.
Second, of course, is the tourist-serving feature. The tourist is key to our revenue generation to be sure, but will this increase sales volume or diminish it?
We spend big bucks promoting our excellent restaurants, our 8-mile beachfront and some of the finest hotels on the West Coast. Tourists are getting the message; they are coming here in droves.
Now why in the world do we want to send them to Disneyland? Sell Donald and Mickey bobbleheads on the pier; keep the visitors in Surf City.
Third is the enormity of the engineering project. Imagine digging up and replacing miles of railroad tracks, constructing overpasses or tunnels and displacing thousands of longtime residents through eminent domain.
Big Brother ideas like this, pushed on us by governmental agencies outside of our city and having potentially enormous negative impact on us, really set me off.
However, having been a student of Big Brother bureaucracies for decades, I should have no fear. They will never pull this off. The people in Huntington Beach are too smart and too feisty to be conned by OCTA, at least not in my lifetime.
If you want to learn more about this incredibly ill-conceived plan, go to www.surfcity-hb.org and click on Go Local.
Contact the writer: wtborden@aol.com