Posted on 11/22/2005 11:10:34 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
A major corridor in the east, running from the South Texas coast through East Texas and ending at Texarkana, may be the future of transportation in the state, and communities in the study areas are being asked to speak up.
Walker County is included among the large Trans Texas Corridor study area north of Houston, and county commissioner Buddy Reynolds said landowners should study the concept and express concerns and/or comments before it's too late.
“I think everybody should send in comments and concerns, whether they're in the study area or not,” he said. “This is really the first thing I've seen we can do. We're hoping to let (developers) know that if this project goes through and doesn't address our concerns, then we don't need it.”
Reynolds explained that mapping of the proposed corridor could include the west side of the county, north of the Huntsville city limits to Bedias Creek and the Kittrell area.
“They're asking for comments to be submitted by fax (or online) no later than Dec. 1,” he said. “I think, instead of personal comments saying we don't want it, we should submit comments about the concept and where it will go and why.”
The Trans Texas Corridor has been a hot topic since the project was announced in early 2002.
The concept, according to the Texas Department of Transportation, is that Texas will be connected by a 4,000-mile network of corridors up to 1,200 feet wide with separate lanes for passenger vehicles, three in each direction, and trucks, two in each direction. The proposal includes six small rail lines, three in each direction. One will be for high-speed passenger rail between cities, one for high-speed freight and one for conventional commuter and freight. The third component is a 200-foot wide dedicated utility zone.
Developers insist that as population grows, transportation needs will grow with it. The Trans Texas Corridor would be the beginning of a national plan to link one end of the nation with the other, first with Interstate 69, 1,600 miles of proposed interstate between Mexico and Canada.
The project could take up to 50 years or more to complete and cost could range from $145.2 billion to $183.5 billion.
Reynolds says he's not opposed to progress, but when you're talking about land that's been part of families legacies for hundreds of years, the state should have good reasons and good planning to proceed.
Among Reynold's concerns were:
€ Local communities should benefit from the revenues of the corridor enough to offset the costs of providing these services.
€ Overpasses should be provided so communities do not become isolated.
€ What Happens when the corridor crosses property and divides a single property into two separate properties without access from one to the other?
€ The corridor should not be strictly a “pipeline” for transporting between Canada and Mexico, but should benefit local communities.
For complete information and color maps on the proposed Trans Texas Corridor, log on to www.keeptexasmoving.com. Online comments can also be submitted through this site or faxed to Ashby Johnson at (713) 993-4508.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Buddy Reynolds can be contacted by phone at (936) 295-7984
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
Thanks for the ping!
You're welcome. :-)
How 'bout if we all submit comments expressing opposition to the very idea of this huge toll boondoggle? I'd rather see 35 and 45 widened by a couple of lanes each to handle higher traffic volume.
Everything I've heard about this thing so far leads me to believe the entire thing is nothing but a method to provide Rick Perry and various cronies with a comfortable retirement.
The turnpikes in Oklahoma had the same effect, even though some of them have been there for 50 years.
Any small town that thinks they're going to get economic development out of such a thing is dreaming. People don't like to drive turnpikes, because they don't like to pay for their roads. The only way to make people pay for the road they drive on is if the alternative free road is a piece of crap. Which is the reason I think politicians like toll roads. They can tax them, then they don't have to spend money on free roads and can give it to their other favorite "charity".
BTTT
The very ideas of tolling roads like 281, which have already been paid for, is double taxation.
If Reynolds thinks that, "we should submit comments about the concept and where it will go and why”, I can tell him right now. It needs to go right where the sun doesn't shine. It isn't needed.
This project is the US Highway 59 corridor. There are three primary reasons this is being proposed as a tollway:
1) The new route would be cheaper than upgrading the existing highway to interstate standards(because of all the businesses close to the current road, bridges not wide enough, etc. Same for the I-35 corridor)
2) It is a heck of a lot cheaper for the state, because investers and then users(who pay them back) fund the construction and maintenance. Otherwise the state can't afford the road, or must raise taxes.
3) A toll company can raise more money faster, speeding construction
Total BS.
The very ideas of tolling roads like 281, which have already been paid for, is double taxation.
False. The expansion of 281, 1604, etc. has not already been paid for, as the gas tax barely covers just the cost of maintaining the current roads. The tolls will only be on new capacity/expansion, existing roads will not be tolled.
"http://www.corridorwatch.org/ttc/cw-tolls.htm"
"http://www.corridorwatch.org/ttc/cw-Williamson-HTC-032503.htm#Governor%20Perry"
"An authority may impose a toll for transit over an existing free road, street, or public highway transferred to the authority under this chapter." [Sec. 370.176(a)]"http://www.corridorwatch.org/ttc/cw-tolls.htm"
It's a political cash cow.
You links don't work, and I know for a fact that zero existing roads will be tolled, only added capacity. Name me a single existing road that will be tolled. You can't, because there aren't any. There was a stupid proposal two years ago to try and do that with an Austin road (Loop 1 south of the river, IIRC) and it was shot down real quick. Gov. Perry specifically responded that tolling existing lanes is not the intent, and IIRC the last legislature enacted such a restriction.
Frankly I've found David Stall and Corridor Watch to be just as dishonest as any liberal activist group. When they write, "As soon as next year existing free state highways in Texas can be converted into toll roads" one immediately gets the idea that they are going to take an existing freeway or highway, like Hwy 1604, and turn all its lanes into a toll road. That is intentionally misleading on his part, because what is actually going to happen is that new toll express lanes will be added in between the existing lanes, where there is now just a grassy median. The existing freeway lanes will remain free. He and his group have repeatedly had this pointed out to them, yet they continue with their deception.
As far as the free lanes not being tolled, I drove the frontage roads on I-40 in Amarillo this past summer. If the free lanes of 281 and 1604 turn out to be anything like I-40 East and West, the people who ride for free will not only have to stop at traffic lights (except for turnarounds), but will have to yield to each and every slip ramp exiting the toll lanes. Plus, the speed limit will be something like 35 to 45 mph. I doubt that they will enjoy the experience during rush hour.
Ultimately, the cost of this project is =not= going to be supported purely by tolls. You can hang your hat on that. There are other, social costs as well. There is no valid reason for building this huge road that will essentially parallel I35. It is just an empire-building boondoggle.
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