Posted on 02/25/2005 6:27:03 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
McLennan County Commissioners and the Waco Chamber of Commerce have voiced their concern about the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor and Thursday, county residents got a chance to voice their opinions on the proposed superhighway.
The superhighway and train corridor is expected to cost $184 million. A hearing was held in Bellmead where the big argument surrounding the proposed Corridor doesn't seemed to be if it's needed, but where to put it.
The proposed superhighway would have six passenger lanes, four commercial lanes and high speed passenger rail lines. It's goal is to alleviate traffic on Interstate 35. But many in McLennan County say if the Trans-Texas Corridor is built outside of Waco, the effect on Waco would be more harm than good, hurting local farmers by taking nearly 1,000 square miles of land and Waco's economy and that's what they oppose.
Waco Chamber of Commerce President Jim Vaughn says, "We want the road the highway to serve Waco and that can't happen if it's 10, 15, 20 miles out of the city. It needs to be closer."
Vaughn says he's also concerned that work on the Trans-Texas Corridor would take away from construction on I-35. He is so concerned about the superhighway that he sent out an email to all Chamber members encouraging them to come to Thursday night’s meeting in Bellmead.
The meeting started around 5:00pm at the Bellmead Civic Center.
TxDOT spokesman Ken Roberts says, "As the population is anticipated to double over the next 20 or 30 years in Texas, we've got to be ready to deal with increased traffic."
But some residents are concerned about rural farm land and others urban areas. Robinson resident Milton Stabeno says, "It will definitely hurt a lot of farmers and ranchers by splitting their land and taking their land, land that's been in their families for centuries, generations."
"The expansion is a good thing,” Waco resident Ray Hicks says, “However, I'm afraid of the loss to the taxpayer."
Roberts says, "We want to work closely with those people along that corridor to get their concerns and work with them to provide access as much as possible."
There are several possible routes for the corridor, but TxDOT won't make its decision until November of this year. So until then, TxDOT plans to continue to hold these public meeting to find just what the public thinks about the future of Texas roads and where they should be built.
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
Please let me know if you want on or off the list.
if i were the city of waco, i'd be annexing like crazy!
if you think this area's got problems, allow me to turn your attention to an area that hasn't a clue:
a mountain valley from temecula, to riverside, to moreno valley, to hemet, back to temecula = roughly a rectangle of sorts.
they haven't a clue what's going on.
you'd think if they were smart rats, they'd crawl out of the box and look at what happened the last 60 years in los angeles.
not. they need to have built a new north-south freeway on the east side of the valley from moreno valley to hemet and into san diego county, parallel to the i-15. but it was not built.
they need multiple, east-west freeways from the i-15 across the valley. but they haven't built them.
meanwhile, they're filling up the area with new houses.
and the traffic locks up for miles. it's going to be a vast, parking lot.
I haven't been there in a decade+, but I think that their bigger problem is not getting around locally, it's getting out of there to where the good jobs are in LA, OC, and SD. That's something that they really can't control - and something that they knew they'd have to deal with once they located there (and generally that was because of the cheaper housing).
"If you build it, they will come."
If you charge 20+ cents per mile, they will flee.
Rules change when you start punishing people to drive their cars.
you know about the 91.
they've talked about making a tunnel under the mountains. that'll take decades with environmentalists.
the ride over the hill to san juan capistrano is a nightmare! whoa, that road will make you religious. lights on. mountainous, curving roads. but people still kill themselves and others.
the i-15 to san diego is a commuter road. lower income people can afford to buy houses in temecula and murieta and commute to san diego.
like many areas of california, i've been on the i-15 doing 90 mph with the herd and the chp will sit by the side of the road and watch.
the key issue in california is: stay in your lane! drive the speed of the herd.
like the african veld, abrupt lane changes will get the attention of predators.
i talked to a chp once and asked him about why they sit and watch 8 lanes of freeway go 90 mph. his response: we lost control of traffic a long time ago.
125 E. 11th Street
Austin, Texas 78701-2483
(512) 463-8588 FAX (512) 463-9896
February 22, 2005Nominations for Trans-Texas Corridor advisory committee Texas Department of Transportation
Want to have a role in shaping the future of transportation in Texas?
The Texas Department of Transportation is now accepting applications from Texans interested in being on a citizen’s advisory committee for the Trans-Texas Corridor. When appointed, the committee will begin advising the department on issues dealing with the planning and development of the corridor, a multi-modal network of toll roads, commuter and freight rail and utilities to be developed over the next 50 years.
“We look forward to working with a diverse cross section of people in getting input as we move ahead with the development of the corridor,” said Mike Behrens, TxDOT executive director. “If you think you have something to offer, we will be happy to hear that you’d be interested in serving on this important committee.”
The Texas Transportation Commission, which voted at its January meeting to create a corridor advisory group, is expected to name the committee members and adopt the advisory group’s operating rules at its March 31 meeting.
Applications are available on TxDOT’s Web site, www.dot.state.tx.us or on the corridor Web site, www.keeptexasmoving.org. When completed, the application may be sent by email to corridor@dot.state.tx.us or by mail to Phillip E. Russell, P.E., Director, Texas Turnpike Authority Division, Texas Department of Transportation, 125 E. 11st St., Austin, TX, 78701. Applications are due by March 14.
“The commission and TxDOT staff is eager to begin getting feedback from the committee,” Behrens said. “Anyone who’d like to apply for appointment should do so by the deadline.”
- 30 - For more information, call Gabriela Garcia, TxDOT Public Information Office, (512) 475-2134.
Currently Texas is aflame with "imposed" highways and toll roads.
This is the government trying to make itself useful and "hard wired" in an age where it isn't.
Instead of building these roads we should be letting half of all government people "go", to work on the productive side of society and start contributing for a change rather than glomming on.
Thanks for the ping!
Which is total bullcrap, and whoever told the idiot reporter (who apparently didn't bother to fact check with some simple math, she'll go far in journalism) was intentionally lying.
Do the math. As previously proposed, the max width would be 1200', there are 5280' in a mile, so it would take a little over 4 miles of road to take up 1 square mile. Meaning that it would take more than 4,000 miles of road to consume 1,000 square miles of land, so the Waco area isn't going to lose anywhere near that amount of farmland. That figure might have been for the entire statewide project(planned to take more than 50 years to complete), but it is reported in a way that makes you think that the Waco area is going to lose 1,000 square miles of farm land.
The reality is far different. TXDOT has scaled back the width needed to a max of 800-1000', meaning it would take 5 to 6.5 miles of road to consume a single square mile. Define the Waco area as 30 miles on each side (Temple to Hillsboro), the amount of land taken in the area would be approx. 10-12 square miles.
BTT!!!!!
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