Where oh where has our light rail gone?

Since 1991, Sacramento RT has been preserving right-of-way options to put in light rail. In theory, light rail was also incorporated into the regional plan for North Natomas. I remember when we bought our house in 1999 in North Natomas, it was "only a matter of time" until we could zip downtown or out to the airport on light rail. Traffic would be less complex at Arco because the new light rail would allow people from all over the city to leave their cars at home. It was an attractive option, certainly one that many newbies from the Bay liked.

It's 2007... Truxel Rd. is being ignored because "someday" there will be light rail there. Why bother putting money into your property if it'll be imminent domained anyway? For-sale signs popped up within minutes of the announced plan in 2003 to run the trains down Truxel. Not much has changed since then. A spring 2005 fact sheet , lists construction to begin in 2010, but the February 2006 fact sheet doesn't even list an estimated construction date.

It appears that the plan is mired in environmental woes. I agree wholeheartedly that the tracks need to be placed in an environmentally-conscious way, which is why I originally supported the plan to run the trains down the freeway. If the area is already damaged, a few more tracks probably won't make much of a difference.

Instead... we're left with a growing blight down Truxel and along the Downtown-Natomas-Airport (DNA) line. Isn't that an environmental concern as well? The airport expansion originally included light rail, however, the newest plan from the airport expansion folks does not include an airport line until 2020. 2020? What? Won't we have flying cars by then?