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One of the biggest transportation projects in US history broke ground this week in California 鈥� six years after voters first approved $10 billion in bonds to fund it and at a much-higher projected cost than originally estimated.聽

Gov. Jerry Brown鈥檚 efforts, in the face of vociferous criticism, to build a high-speed rail in car-centric California can be seen as a parable for the struggles that beset many big-vision 鈥� and big-ticket 鈥� projects attempted in America today.

The biggest challenge with major public works projects, experts say, is just how many unknowns are involved, from who will pick up the tab for budget overruns to who is going to actually use the system and how they will use it. That鈥檚 coupled with state and federal coffers that have seen several lean years, as well as legislators who recently have found it more practical, or more politically expedient, to just say no.

Times certainly have changed when it comes to moving major public works from idea to reality, says Matthew Hale, associate professor of public administration as well as political science聽at Seton Hall University.

He points out that when Governor Brown鈥檚 father, Pat, was governor of California, he was able to 鈥渉erd the legislative house cats into building massive infrastructure projects.鈥澛�

The problem today, Professor Hale notes via e-mail, is that the legislative cats Governor Brown faces 鈥渁re wild and feral, not house cats.鈥澛�

It is much easier for legislators to be independent of the governor today and that makes building big infrastructure projects much more difficult, he says.

There are also concerns that the project 鈥� currently projected to cost $68 billion 鈥� may wind up costing even more by the time the last mile of rail is laid. So far, voters have approved $10 billion in bonds, and the federal government is contributing $3.3 billion to the project 鈥� leaving $55 billion that still needs funding to get the 520-mile project up and running by 2030.聽

鈥淲hen you do these really big projects, they almost always come in way, way over budget,鈥� says Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation in Washington. Plus, he adds, 鈥淭here is much more competition for money these days, which makes it much harder to approve really big projects.鈥� 聽

Boston鈥檚 Big Dig, for example, which buried the city鈥檚 Central Artery underground and opened up the core of the city to pedestrians, had a final price tag of $24.3 billion (including interest). That was up from an original estimate of $2.6 billion 鈥� making it the most expensive highway project in US history.

鈥淏ig visions are a problem鈥�especially because there won鈥檛 be many more that come with unfunded mandates,鈥� says Barbara O鈥機onnor, director emeritus of the Institute for Study of Politics and Media at California State University in Sacramento. 鈥淏ig visions need to be clear and executable or they will not pick up followers.鈥澛�

鈥淲hether this is a good, big-vision project or a boondoggle may depend on who you are talking to,鈥� says Professor O鈥機onnor.

For his part, Governor Brown was quick to brush aside the chorus of critics 鈥� a number of whom showed up to protest at the ground-breaking in Fresno Tuesday for the first 29 miles of the project. Naysayers, he claimed, are to be聽expected whenever someone proposes big-vision public works.

鈥淓verything big runs into opposition,鈥� Brown said in his remarks Tuesday, pointing to such public works as the California Water Project, the Golden Gate Bridge, and BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit).听

鈥淧eople do get pusillanimous. That鈥檚 the adjective I鈥檓 going to affix to all the critics.聽鈥β營t means weak of spirit,鈥� he added.

But some question whether the needs of California residents, or Governor Brown鈥檚 legacy, are propelling the project forward.

鈥淭his is a sexy legacy project,鈥� says Michael Shires, professor of public policy at Pepperdine University.

鈥淏ut the real question is does the region really need this?鈥� he says, noting that there is not a demonstrated need for more transportation capacity between south and north California.

For instance, he says, there is already talk of closing two regional airports in southern California due to a lack of traffic.

Beyond that, says Professor Shires, California does not have a strong rail culture, 鈥渟o you are talking about not just lack of demonstrated need, but also changing a car culture.鈥澛�

Another difficulty, says Hale, is that there are simply more people in the way.聽

Back when Pat Brown was governor, he didn鈥檛 have as many local jurisdictions that actually had people living in them, so putting in a new university or freeway required less negotiating.

For example, he says, 鈥淲hen Pat Brown wanted to build UC Irvine, all he had to do was talk with a handful of orange growers and ranchers.聽Every inch of bullet train track will have local interests that will want a say in the matter.鈥�