Posted on 03/03/2008 2:01:04 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Heated comments flew around the room as more than 175 citizens gathered to voice their opinions at the TxDOT open house and public hearing on the I-69/Trans-Texas Corridor held at the Humble Civic Center on Feb. 28, 2008.
Congress designated I-69 as a high priority corridor in 1991 and again in 1998. In 2002, TxDOT unveiled the Trans-Texas Corridor project to accommodate Texas' future transportation needs. The TTC is a part of a 4,000-mile system of rail lines, truck and car lanes and concentrated utility routes to improve international and intrastate movement of goods and people from Canada to the border of Mexico.
The TTC proposal has two phases
Tier One, the current phase, is the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. It is a study designed to identify transportation corridors that will provide the best balance of meeting the project’s purpose while minimizing the effect on the environment. No property acquisition or construction can occur during this phase. The evaluation also includes, among many other aspects of the proposal, assessment of public and agency input. At the end of the public comment period, all comments will be compiled and reviewed by the Federal Highway Administration. Tier One must be approved by the FHWA for the project to go forward to Tier Two.
Tier Two is a detailed study of the environmental impact, based on transportation needs (highway and rail), on the areas that were approved by the FHWA. It will then identify the preferred route of the TTC. Before any property acquisition or construction the study must have federal approval.
The TTC is the state's initiative to improve the movement of goods through the state, provide economic enhancement to underserved areas and address the transportation needs of Texas for the next 20 to 50 years. The TTC will cover approximately 650 miles from Texarkana to Laredo with off shoots to McAllen, Corpus Christi and Shreveport.
"If the FHWA sees that there is no support from the citizens of Texas, the TTC will not be built," said Norm Wigington, TxDOT public information officer.
Promptly at 6:30 p.m., TxDOT opened the hearing to listen to comments from the public. Each citizen had three minutes to express an opinion. Thirty-one people from the surrounding area and from numerous counties in east Texas took turns expressing their opinions of the TTC.
Don Garrett, from Citizens for a Better Waller County, told the audience, "We are working to defeat the TTC; we are not against transportation, but we are against foreign investors who see our highway system as a cash cow."
TxDOT has indicated that the entire TTC will be a toll road. "There has been talk that H.B. Zachry, a privately owned construction company in San Antonio, has partnered with Cintra in hopes of operating the highway," Wigington said.
Humble Area Chamber of Commerce, chairman Mike Beyer commented, "First, we need to build U.S. Highway 59 to current standards. Several years ago, when I heard Governor Perry talk about the TTC, I thought he had lost his mind. TxDOT has done a lot of good for Texas, but it is getting a bad name from what the governor has proposed. This proposal has set us back 10 years. Shut down I-69 and the Trans-Texas Corridor."
Numerous other citizens commented that the EIS did not attend to the environmentally sensitive areas, it disregarded historical sites, cemeteries and did not address environmental safety should a disaster strike. Others asked, among other concerns, what considerations were given to the influx of people who will now have direct access to enter the United States illegally, the plight of commuters on the congested highways in urban areas and what is being done to identify emergency evacuation routes.
TxDOT was not allowed to make comments or rebuttals to the opinions expressed during the public forum.
For additional information on the I-69/TTC, go to www.keeptexasmoving.com. To submit a written comment, mail to: I-69/TTC, P.O. Box 14428, Austin, TX 78761 or go to www.keeptexasmoving.com/index.php/contact. The final date for written comments is March 19.
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
Actually, if it is fully built out, ALL of the TTC will be located in Texas. I-69, however, will connect Canada and Mexico.
The people of Texas and the country are having the North American Union shoved down their throats.
“The people of Texas and the country are having the North American Union shoved down their throats”
****
True, but at least the DOT people are putting up a nice show by offering a public forum for citizens to vent their disgust and annoyance at the proposed corrider. /sarc
Texas DOT is just putting on a dog and pony show. None of this input will make any difference.
NO...this is an opportunity to let a WHOLE BUNCH of decision makers know this will be rejected. It has to be done before they get the false impression it is somehow OK to push the TTC.
You know, just a thought came to mind here. If a highway corridor (like I-69) is such an important artery for the movement of goods from Canada to Mexican Ports etc, then wouldn’t that single highway be also considered a high priority target by an enemy wishing to disrupt those same shipping routes?
It seems putting all the eggs in one basket could be a serious blunder under certain scenarios.
Kansas City is a part of this same concept of the NAFTA highway because it would serve as a port of entry (go figure) operated by Mexico within sovergn US borders.
The money people are pushing it. The citizenry is in opposition. Who is going to end up winning at who’s expense?
Just some thoughts here.
BTTT
I dont have any room for any union. Im still digesting the 30 million illegals they forced on us.
As I understand it, KC Smartport will serve as a port of entry for American goods going to Mexico. Is that your understanding as well?
Yes. The KC Port Authority will be an import/export terminal from our understanding.
The I-35 corridor is of the NAFTA designation for the Central US. Supposedly the agricultural grains will be exported, shipped via train and truck to Mexican Ports for further world destinations. Since I-35 extends well into Minnesota the entire grain belt of America, and Canada can be funneled south.
One of Missouri’s best shipping routes has been by barge down the Missouri River to the Mississippi river at St Louis. Thanks to the Army Corp of Engineers, barge traffic has been sharply reduced because of the Army Corps environmental wing fluctuating river levels for bird and fish habitat. Barges are more energy efficient transport than even trains. But no, save the river, pave over some more farm land so inefficient trucks can move more goods.
This whole concept is mind boggling beyond reasonable.
Do you buy your tin foil in bulk?
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