Comment by LargeWu
This is the central thesis of Ezra Klein's "Abundance" book. Basically, things like this (or high speed rail, or public housing) don't get built in the USA because the government has hamstrung itself with so many rules and regulations that it becomes prohibitively expensive and/or tied up in lawsuits.
Places like China, for better or worse, are not burdened with the problem of making sure every constituency is accommodated.