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I-69 corridor selected for program
Longview News-Journal ^ | September 15, 2007 | Jimmy Isaac

Posted on 09/16/2007 5:27:18 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

The Interstate 69 corridor is one of six highways selected for a new federal program to develop multi-state corridors to help reduce congestion, according to Texas transportation officials.

Interstate 69 from Texas to Michigan, and Interstate 10 from California through Texas to Florida, were among the highways selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of its "Corridors of the Future" program.It is aimed at developing innovative national and regional approaches to reduce congestion and improve efficiency of freight delivery, according to Marcus Sandifer, spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation's Atlanta District.

Eight states, including Texas, will divide $800,000 to be used for an Interstate 69 innovative financing study, he said. Estimated cost of the multi-state project is $17 billion, with the Texas segment costing about $6 billion, he said.

"This means that this is a high priority project not only for the state of Texas but also the top 10 projects in the nation," said Sandifer.

The proposed 2,680-mile corridor would be an international trade route from Mexico to Canada and would facilitate trade from the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

The Texas segment, also known as Trans-Texas Corridor 69, extends from the Texarkana area through Northeast Texas to Houston and on to the Texas-Mexico border, Sandifer said.

Trans-Texas corridor 69 would combine the Interstate Highway with rail and electrical lines, according Alliance I-69, a group of Texas supporters for the concept.

A definite route has yet to be determined. Harrison County officials have lobbied in recent years for the corridor to pass near Marshall. U.S. 59, a major north-south arterial, handled nearly 23,000 vehicles a day on the north side of its interchange with Interstate 20 in 2005, Sandifer reports. That represented a 24.5 percent increase in traffic since 1995.

"It definitely shows that traffic is increasing over the years, and it's going to keep getting worse and worse as it goes along," Sandifer said. "This does show that there is a need for this project, and that the federal government is ready to fund it.

"Of course, our part will probably be the last part to be built."

That's because state transportation officials will likely begin construction in South Texas, where the corridor is most needed because of congestion, he said. Completion of a three-year environmental study to help determine the route from Victoria is expected by the end of this year, according to the Caller-Times.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: alliancei69; corridorsofthefuture; cuespookymusic; damnyerspookymusic; funding; harrisoncounty; i10; i69; i69alliance; ih10; ih69; interstate10; interstate69; nafta; naftahighway; northamericanunion; soixanteneuf; spp; study; texas; transtexascorridor; ttc; ttc69; tx; txdot; us59; usdot

1 posted on 09/16/2007 5:27:21 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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To: TxDOT; 1066AD; 185JHP; Abcdefg; Adrastus; Alamo-Girl; antivenom; AprilfromTexas; B4Ranch; B-Chan; ..

Trans-Texas Corridor PING!


2 posted on 09/16/2007 5:28:41 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Oh, Geesh, not THIS crap AGAIN?!?)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

I don’t believe this report at all. Just last month President Bush and Prime Minister Harper were telling us that plans like this don’t exist and it’s all a conspiracy theory.

Obviously this news is all a fake.

(/sarcasm of course)


3 posted on 09/16/2007 5:30:25 PM PDT by Domandred (Eagles soar, but unfortunately weasels never get sucked into jet engines)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

It is amazing all the articles and hundreds of thousands of google links to the SuperHighways, etc.

Yet, there is still a contingent of deniers. They decry these reports as false and say there are no plans to build the SuperHighways from Mexico, through the US, to Canada.


4 posted on 09/16/2007 5:35:11 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: TomGuy
"They decry these reports as false and say there are no plans to build the SuperHighways from Mexico, through the US, to Canada."

Well they aren't building that bridge to bypass Hoover Dam for nothing! An interstate straight from Mexico (not Baja) to I-10. From I-10 Phoenix, U.S. 93 to I-15 in Las Vegas, then a straight shot to Canada. The only large cities on the route are Phoenix, LV, and Salt Lake City.

Arizona has already finished their part. Dirty Harry Reid got bucks for the bridge but forgot about the bottle neck in the little town of Boulder City between the bridge and LV. When the bridge is completed in 2010, traffic routed south bypassing Hoover Dam through Laughlin because of 9-11 (traffic has about doubled in that time), about 8,000 trucks a day will have to make a turn at one of the two stop lights in the town.

yitbos

5 posted on 09/16/2007 6:02:59 PM PDT by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds." -- Ayn Rand)
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To: Domandred
Just last month President Bush and Prime Minister Harper were telling us that plans like this don’t exist and it’s all a conspiracy theory.

I think they were telling us that uniting Mexico, Canada and the U.S. into one EU-style country weren't in the plans. I don't think they pledged to stop highway construction.

The country's growing, traffic's increasing and trade (like it or not y'all) is growing, too. It'd be stupid not to expand the Interstate Highways -- especially in the south and west where the growth is heaviest.

But don't listen to common sense. Just carry on with your silly Amero conspiracy theories. They're based on as much evidence as Rosie's insistence that fire doesn't melt steel, but don't let that stand in your way.

6 posted on 09/16/2007 6:04:03 PM PDT by BfloGuy (It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect . . .)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
"the multi-state project is $17 billion, with the Texas segment costing about $6 billion,"

So, how much road tax are the taco benders going to pay?

yitbos

7 posted on 09/16/2007 6:07:58 PM PDT by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds." -- Ayn Rand)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Here in Indiana, we are getting ready to eminent domain whole towns to build our part of the NAFTA superhighway. There was an alternate route that would have used existing roadways, but it wasn’t even considered.


8 posted on 09/16/2007 6:09:53 PM PDT by mysterio
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To: TomGuy; Domandred

This is a REAL highway. I don’t know if anybody has plans to ultimately build it as a ten-to-twelve-lane car-truck-separated monstrosity outside of Texas. I suspect it will be the usual four to six lanes of capacity (including in Texas, for now).


9 posted on 09/16/2007 6:19:51 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Oh, Geesh, not THIS crap AGAIN?!?)
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To: bruinbirdman

You’re talking about Canamex, correct? As I understand it, Canamex will merely be a four-lane monstrosity, not ten-to-twelve-lane with rails and pipelines to boot.


10 posted on 09/16/2007 6:21:25 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Oh, Geesh, not THIS crap AGAIN?!?)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Number one, withdraw from NAFTA SHAFTA. Number two, spend that money repairing and upgrading the roads we have and knock of the idea of putting in toll roads every fifty feet. Number three, quit diverting funds to public transporation that is by any other name, a transit system for the poor and illegal aliens. Quit subsidizing it, stick a stake through it's heart and bury it.
11 posted on 09/16/2007 6:53:45 PM PDT by DoughtyOne ((Victory will never be achieved while defining Conservatism downward, and forsaking its heritage.))
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To: TomGuy

They lie lie lie while openly pursuing their agenda.
And we don’t take action and stop the bs. Just enough people are appeased by the continuous lies to keep re-electing the same politicians that allow those underling government planners to implement those projects.
Just like the mexican trucks. They are bound and determined they are going to ram this NAFTA and illegal immigrunts down our throats. I am sick of it!!!!

This is big business running politics. Not American people.


12 posted on 09/16/2007 6:54:24 PM PDT by o_zarkman44 (No Bull in 08!)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
I don’t know if anybody has plans to ultimately build it as a ten-to-twelve-lane car-truck-separated monstrosity

I think the 10-12 lane reference is the width of the right-of-way. It would include the actual highway lanes, plus railway(s), utility and pipeline areas, access roadways, etc.
13 posted on 09/16/2007 7:15:46 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: TomGuy
You have no idea what you are talking about. Here is the official layout:

Soure: http://www.governor.state.tx.us/priorities/transportation/images/transtexas.jpg

14 posted on 09/16/2007 7:31:50 PM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias...)
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To: TXnMA
You have no idea what you are talking about.

The graphic you posted shows exactly what I was talking about. I said the lanes included more than just a highway for automobiles.

My exact quote I made in post #13:

"I think the 10-12 lane reference is the width of the right-of-way. It would include the actual highway lanes, plus railway(s), utility and pipeline areas, access roadways, etc."


Maybe they teach reading comprehension differently in Texas.
15 posted on 09/16/2007 8:22:40 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Eight states, including Texas, will divide $800,000

That's going to go far.....

16 posted on 09/16/2007 9:08:56 PM PDT by Sarajevo (A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
"Canamex will merely be a four-lane monstrosity, not ten-to-twelve-lane with rails and pipelines to boot."

Canamex! Verdad. Cana(da)mex(ico). No U.S.A. in there.

Cuatro carriles, hasta el final verdades pero divididos. Calidad de un estado a otro.

yitbos

17 posted on 09/16/2007 9:33:07 PM PDT by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds." -- Ayn Rand)
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To: TomGuy; TXnMA
TXnMA knows what he is talking about.

It's not about transportation, it's all  about revenue and eminent domain.
 

excerpt from the Texas Toll party site:

The Trans Texas Corridor is a 4,000 mile plan of supertollways more. The Corridor will include tollways for 12 passenger vehicles lanes, 4 truck lanes, 2 passenger train tracks, 2 commuters train tracks, 2 freight train tracks, underground lines for water, natural gas, petroleum, telecommunication, fiberoptics and overhead high-voltage electric transmission lines and electrical transmission towers.

Plans also include gas stations, garages, restaurants, hotels, stores, billboards, warehouses, freight interchange, intermodal transfer areas, passenger train stations, bus stations, parking facilities, dispatch control centers, maintenance facilities, pipeline pumping stations, and of course, toll booths. The Trans Texas Corridor is the largest engineering project ever proposed for Texas. This statewide network of corridors will measure a quarter mile wide and cost over $180 Billion dollars.

Secret deal with a private foreign company.
Gov. Rick Perry has had secret negations with a company from Spain, Cintra, to hold a 70 year concession for a portion of the Corridor. Perry and Cintra/Zachery withheld the agreement from the public, claiming it included proprietary information, even though taxpayer dollars to the tune of $3.5 million is going to Cintra's partner, Zachry, for planning.

 
The state will take 1/2 million acres, including the richest farm land in Texas called "The Blacklands".

In addition to TxDOT, private-sector analysis will identify other corridors for immediate development and future investment as revenue is needed. The typical corridor section will require 146 acres of right of way per mile. The total anticipated right of way for the 4,000 miles of corridor is 584,000 acres.

 
http://www.texastollparty.com/ttp_trans_texas.php
 
...and more of the same from Wiki:

The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) is a transportation network in the planning and early construction stages in the U.S. state of Texas. The network, as planned, would be composed of a 4,000 mile (6,000 km) network of supercorridors up to 1,200 feet (370 m) wide to carry parallel links of tollways, rails, and utility lines[1]. The tollway portion would be divided into two separate elements: truck lanes and lanes for passenger vehicles. Similarly, the rail lines in the corridor would be divided among freight, commuter, and high-speed rail. Services expected to be carried in the utility corridor include water, electricity, natural gas, petroleum, fiber optic lines, and other telecommunications services. The Trans-Texas Corridor will allow passenger vehicular speed limits of up to 85 mph (140 km/h). The network will be funded by private investors and built and expanded as demand warrants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Texas_Corridor

TXnMA- Thanx for the graphic

18 posted on 09/16/2007 9:54:52 PM PDT by Sarajevo (A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.)
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To: bruinbirdman

It’s called I-69 because we’re screwed no matter how you look at it.


19 posted on 09/16/2007 10:35:24 PM PDT by Defiant ("Expectorate" has Specter in it.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

BTTT


20 posted on 09/17/2007 2:55:21 AM PDT by E.G.C.
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks; All

I just got back from N.Carolina. (back home to TX) It’s obvious Tenn. and Arkansas know how to spend their HW $s. Money diverted from Texas HW funds has taken it’s toll. (pardon the pun) IMO, this was done to make people believe we need the new super HWs and toll roads when all we needed was an overall upgrade.

Bastards!


21 posted on 09/17/2007 4:23:46 AM PDT by wolfcreek (tagline on holiday)
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To: wolfcreek; TomGuy; Sarajevo; Tolerance Sucks Rocks
"IMO, this was done to make people believe we need the new super HWs and toll roads when all we needed was an overall upgrade."

Bullseye! That's a favorite TXDOT scam/scare/aggravation tactic

I recently drove from DFW back to Hillsboro on I-35E. For miles, coming out of Dallas, there are (at least) two brand new (and, apparently usable) lanes running down the midle of 35, walled off with Jersey barriers and unused. The sense of being "hemmed in" and overcrowded is awful!

And, I did not see a single soul (much less a TXDOT employee) working on that entire unusable stretch of new roadway...

Like most liberals, Rick and Ricky, thrive on creating a feeling of discontent among the voters.

Perry and TXDOT do not want better highways for Texas. All they want is "revenue"!!!


22 posted on 09/17/2007 5:03:42 AM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias...)
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To: DoughtyOne

I don’t have a problem with transit in general. I do have a problem with using gas tax money to fund it. If transit can be privatized without putting it out of the reach of people who cannot afford cars, so much the better.


23 posted on 09/17/2007 1:43:22 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Oh, Geesh, not THIS crap AGAIN?!?)
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To: Sarajevo

It’s six passenger vehicle lanes, not twelve (although the pics indicate room for more lanes as needed).


24 posted on 09/17/2007 1:46:42 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Oh, Geesh, not THIS crap AGAIN?!?)
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To: wolfcreek

I think you’ve come to the right conclusion. Now, what do you do about it? What can you do about it? For every one of you there are literally tens of thousands of folks who think it sounds reasonable to double or triple pay for roads. You’ll find them right here on this forum.

It really pi—es me off!


25 posted on 09/17/2007 1:50:40 PM PDT by DoughtyOne ((Victory will never be achieved while defining Conservatism downward, and forsaking its heritage.))
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Oh, so that’s it...we’re fixing congestion — I feel better already, it has nothing to do with ramming a North American Union down our throats. (What a bunch of liars.) They dress it up in new language, but it’s still a pig.


26 posted on 09/17/2007 1:56:03 PM PDT by hershey
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To: DoughtyOne
“You’ll find them right here on this forum.”

Not so much in Texas. There’s a big drive to de-fang the DOT. (and de-nut the Governor)

Most on this forum have ulterior motives....freetraitors...globalists...OBL and the like.

27 posted on 09/17/2007 2:13:19 PM PDT by wolfcreek (tagline on holiday)
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To: wolfcreek

Well, good luck down there. We’ve got similar problems out here.


28 posted on 09/17/2007 2:23:07 PM PDT by DoughtyOne ((Victory will never be achieved while defining Conservatism downward, and forsaking its heritage.))
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

I10 has been chosen...I am shocked I tell ya, shocked. Oh crap...right through my neck of the woods...that’s just great.


29 posted on 09/17/2007 2:26:42 PM PDT by Conservative4Ever (Hoping my 'carbon footprint' has crushed a few liberals)
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To: DoughtyOne

Isn’t your gas tax being mainly squandered on OTR (Other Than Roads)?


30 posted on 09/17/2007 3:13:53 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Oh, Geesh, not THIS crap AGAIN?!?)
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To: wolfcreek


31 posted on 09/17/2007 3:22:02 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Absolutely. Among other things it’s been used to build public transportation that mostly serves illegal aliens and people without cars.

Very little of it is being spent on roads. I will tell you that I drove over a toll road in Orange county some years back, and was amazed to see how nicely that was kept up.

The bumps had even been shaved. What a crock. We paid for our roads, and the state lets them rot to spend the money on liberal boondoggles.


32 posted on 09/17/2007 3:22:47 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Sorry Hillderella, but the Hsu fits...)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

>>Eight states, including Texas, will divide $800,000 to be used for an Interstate 69 innovative financing study, he said.<<

$100,000 per state - can the government do anything for that little money?


33 posted on 09/17/2007 3:23:43 PM PDT by gondramB (Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

It’s six passenger vehicle lanes, not twelve

TSR- can you direct me to that info? I did the cut-n-paste directly off of the Texas Toll Party web site.

Thanx

34 posted on 09/18/2007 12:26:04 AM PDT by Sarajevo (A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.)
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To: bruinbirdman
Here's a nice shot of the approach under construction to what will be that bridge, downstream from Hoover Dam, on Google Maps: Hoover Dam Bypass.

According to http://www.hooverdambypass.org/, the approaches on both sides, from Nevada and Arizon, are four lane highways, two lanes each way.

35 posted on 09/18/2007 1:13:06 AM PDT by ThePythonicCow (The Greens steal in fear of pollution, The Reds in fear of greed; Fear arising from a lack of Faith.)
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To: ThePythonicCow
"Google Maps: Hoover Dam Bypass."

There are plans for a Boulder City Bypass. It was planned and studied at the same time as the bridge. Bucks for bridge, no bucks to bypass the bottleneck of Boulder City, where I live, until the next transportation bill in 5 years.

yitbos

36 posted on 09/18/2007 1:41:10 AM PDT by bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds." -- Ayn Rand)
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To: Sarajevo
http://ttc.keeptexasmoving.com/pdfs/projects/ttc35/master_development_plan/Chapter_2_Universe_of_Facililities.pdf

Check out the cross section on Page 3 for TTC-35. There are only six passenger vehicle lanes drawn. And most of the conceptual illustrations I've seen have six passenger vehicle lanes as well.

I doubt that they'll need twelve passenger vehicle lanes. There are not that many people willing to pay 15 cents a mile, as far as I know.

37 posted on 09/18/2007 4:42:49 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Oh, Geesh, not THIS crap AGAIN?!?)
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To: BfloGuy

In December 2007 I read through a federal environmental draft impact statement for I-69 through Arkansas.
It lists the federal agencies involved for this “limited access” or toll road from Mexico to Canada.
It states that elected officials have already been briefed on the project.


38 posted on 03/15/2008 9:37:15 AM PDT by MediaJ
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To: TXnMA

I don’t quite get your reference to liberals. This issue isn’t about anything except money and control.

Super corridors will used to bring goods from India and China into Mexico, the US and Canada. That is the stated purpose in a federal draft environmental impact statement that I read for a portion of I-69 through Arkansas.

As for funding, US tax dollars will be funneled to private companies who will build and own the roads. Emminent domain will be used to take the land.

My concern is that, the more terms like liberal and conservative are used, the less people can see that we are in this together. It’s just about money. It will make the rich super rich. The big name political parties are both party to this.


39 posted on 03/15/2008 10:00:19 AM PDT by MediaJ
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