Although the California High Speed Rail "project" hasn't been officially declared dead, it's pretty obvious that it will only be a matter of time before this happens.

Officially, the project has been "scaled back" to running only between Merced and Bakersfield, possibly the least desirable city pair on the planet to link with bullet trains.

YouTuber "the Four Foot" flew a drone over the entire 119-mile route last year and posted a two-hour video.  The images are telling.

The site looks more like an abandoned movie set of a high-speed rail construction site than an actual construction site.  There is a lot of rusting rebar, both in piles and sticking out of half-done concrete. 

There are not a whole lot of porta-potties.  Only two locations had a high density of toilets.  This is an indication of how many workers are (or aren't) involved.

The other thing?  There was no actual work happening in the video.  It might have been a Sunday or holiday, but serious construction sites (like I-70 in Glenwood Canyon in the '80s) run 24/7. 

Sure, they have "made progress," but the "completed" sections are all in high-profile areas, visible from the highway.  As though it's being done for show. 

Watching the entire flyover, one can see extremely challenging spans that have had zero construction.  These are places that cannot be seen from a highway.

The biggest takeaway is that the site doesn't look as though it could possibly be as over budget as it is.  And it really looks as though it is going to be abandoned.

And what happens if the project is abandoned?  What the heck does one do with a 119-mile scar filled with half-finished viaducts and underpasses? 

It really can't be made into a highway due to its proximity to existing railroad tracks and width.  It's not going to be a very good walking path, either.

Maybe it could be turned into a 119-mile homeless camp?  Sort of like what Saudi Arabia is doing with Neom, but with tents and broken-down R.V.s instead?

If they finish High Speed Rail in the Central Valley, it will be an economic disaster.  If they don't, it will be an environmental disaster.  (Plus an eyesore and economic disaster in the Central Valley).

Naysayers of the project have already dubbed the Bakersfield to Merced HSR line "the train to nowhere."  This is a bit of a misnomer, as there is no train present.  Perhaps "the Central Valley Scar" is the term that needs to be coined.

Just South of Laughlin, Nev. sits an abandoned hotel and golf course construction site.  It's sad, ugly, and so exposed to the elements that it's unusable.

If California High Speed Rail fails, it will be 119 miles of that same sad ugliness, equally unusable.

Image: California High Speed Rail Authority.