We're starting to wonder if this whole high-speed rail thing is just a pipe-dream we'll tell our grandkids about when they ask why they still have to drive up and down I-5 to get to L.A. The AP reports today on some new environmental impact studies released today that show the initial segment of the railway construction, the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment, is now estimated to cost $3 to $7 billion more than initially estimated in 2009.

The number is now $10 to $13.9 billion, up from an earlier estimated cost of $7 billion, and all this at a time when the state is borderline broke and no one wants to hear this news. This follows on the news last month that a new special committee was being formed to reach a compromise regarding the scale and construction of the northern, S.F. peninsula segment, which has become a source of controversy especially among homeowners along the route in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. That compromised plan may result in a slower, non-high-speed section of the high-speed rail, in order to decrease costs and appease peninsula NIMBYs.

Anyway, buckle up for another decade or more of stories like this...

PREVIOUSLY: NIMBY Watch: Peninsula Denizens Win Small Victory in High-Speed Rail Battle
Would Anyone Use a SF-LA High-Speed Rail Line? Is It Practical?