Posted on 06/21/2007 1:59:42 AM PDT by Man50D
A NAFTA superhighway plan under way in Texas will be extended to Oklahoma and Colorado, stretching the four-lane, train-truck-car-pipeline corridor from the Mexican border at Laredo, Texas, to Denver, reports WND columnist Jerome Corsi, whose new investigative book, "The Late Great USA: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada," has just been released.
As WND has reported, the Federal Highway Administration is promoting public-private partnership projects to expand superhighway projects, consistent with extending the Trans-Texas Corridor network north.
The plan is for the states of Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado to apply the TTC toll road concept first developed by the Texas DOT to largely rural areas along the Ports-to-Plains Corridor.
To advance this plan, the Ports-to-Plains Trade Corridor Coalition – sponsored by the consulates of Mexico and Canada along with the Texas and Colorado transportation departments – is co-sponsoring a "Great Plains 2007" international conference Sept. 19-21 at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Denver.
The brochure recommends the conference be attended by real estate developers, transportation planners, highway services business executives, as well as state, local, county and municipal public officials and international trade professionals.
An April Texas DOT study on the Ports-to-Plains Trade Corridor Coalition website documents the tie between the two groups.
The study says the Ports-to-Plains Corridor offers an opportunity to apply the Trans-Texas Corridor technology to NAFTA superhighway development in rural settings. It concludes by recommending new highway construction be undertaken parallel to the existing Ports-to-Plains Trade Corridor route in order to apply the superhighway design north through Oklahoma into Colorado.
As WND previously reported, the $180 billion needed to build the 4,000 mile Trans-Texas Corridor network over the next 50 years will be financed by Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, S.A., a foreign investment consortium based in Spain. Cintra will own the leasing and operating rights on TTC highways for 50 years after construction is complete.
A press release on the Texas DOT website confirms the agency is looking for a public-private-partnership to help finance the construction of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor.
WND also has reported Texas Gov. Rick Perry has received substantial campaign contributions from Cintra and Zachry Construction Company, the San Antonio-based construction firm selected by the Texas DOT to build the TTC.
The homepage of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor Coalition website proclaims, "Together, the communities along the Ports-to-Plains Trade Corridor are becoming the Gateway to trade throughout the nation and with Mexico and Canada."
The homepage also links the Ports-to-Plains Trade Corridor to the millions of containers from China that are planned to enter North America through Mexican ports, commenting, "The Trade Corridor will allow for the development of less congested ports of entry along the Texas/Mexican border."
When you say that the population of Texas is predicted to double in a couple of generations, will they be tax paying citizens? Why do people, not multi-national trucking, need this type of system? Interstates serve that purpose, and Lord knows there are enough of them.
Speaking of surface streets, the area in which I live, has had the misfortune of a population explosion, due to relatively “cheap housing”. This translates into a very clogged I-15, and impassable surface streets, just to own a crappy house built by illegals. Trust me, the local population could turn into a lynch mob if greedy politicians try and pull that imminent domain BS on us.
Yes, a multi-transportation corridor is efficient on paper. It is important for our elected traitors to push this through to further erode our sovreignity.
As many as it takes.
Oy vey :(
When I said, "once it's gone, it's gone forever", I meant the last vestiges of rural America. We don't really produce more than ever. The commercial farms, gross polluters that they are, do that. I'm talking about what used to be the backbone of America.
Now if they are talking about unused land, that's a different story. Care to produce any kind of map that shows the preliminary route for this super hwy?
You mean like the eastern forests that were destroyed in the early 1800s that are now covering more acreage than they did when the pilgrims landed?
We don't really produce more than ever.
But we do.
The commercial farms, gross polluters that they are, do that.
Yeah, those efficient farms producing all that food. It's terrible!
I'm talking about what used to be the backbone of America.
Yeah, I miss the high infant mortality rates and low life expectancies of the past. The days when a poor harvest meant you starved. Good times.
Care to produce any kind of map that shows the preliminary route for this super hwy?
Lot's of scary maps in color floating around. You haven't seen them?
No, it is not a private highway. It is a state owned toll road like the Ohio Turnpike or the Indiana Toll Road. CINTRA will be leasing the rights to operate the road for a set period of time. They will be responsible for taking tolls, maintenance and upkeep of the road, and for operating service centers/rest areas. Like any other toll road, law enforcement is the responsibility of the local or state agency that has jurisdiction. In Ohio it's the Ohio Highway Patrol, the County Sheriffs and local police, I'm not sure who in Texas has authority over highways.
Here is a link to a map of High Priority corridor 38 (Interstate 27):
http://www.portstoplains.com/maps.html
Don't confuse them with the truth.
Quit being a smart alek. We aren’t talking about the 1800’s, or the primitive living conditions that existed back then.
They might as well change the words to “America the Beautiful” to “from purple mountain’s majesty, above the gridlocked plains”. :(
You're talking about "the last vestiges of rural America", not me.
They might as well change the words to “America the Beautiful” to “from purple mountain’s majesty, above the gridlocked plains”. :(
Yeah, we're living shoulder to shoulder in America. LOL!
Finally, a map! Thank you Green Lantern!
Now, from what I am seeing, these roads already exist? According to the legend on the main map, the major change would be through Laredo and San Antonio, where they would perhaps widen that particular stretch? I don’t have the map up for reference, so maybe I have the cities wrong. It’s been bookmarked for further investigation.
Lookee Todd, it’s a bright, shiny map!
The only thing more dangerous than a new NAFTA super highway is an old NAFTA super highway.
Damn, you’re quick :-D
Oh well, excuse me for being sentimental about the country I love, and the values I cherish. Gridlock refers to overcrowded roads, fwys, and hwys, not neighborhoods. I guess you’ve never been stuck in CA traffic.
No kidding. To acommodate the expected increase in traffic, they'll have to retrofit all the existing roads. If Caltrans is any indication, this project will move at a snail's pace.
I guess your answer to gridlock is fewer roads?
I guess you’ve never been stuck in CA traffic.
No, just Chicago traffic.
My point was if the roads already exist, how can they be a new, evil plot? Is a road good until you rename it a NAFTA highway?
To acommodate the expected increase in traffic, they'll have to retrofit all the existing roads.
Traffic is increasing whether roads are improved or not.
If Caltrans is any indication, this project will move at a snail's pace.
Are you saying government agencies move too slowly? I wonder if a private company could do things better, faster and cheaper?
Nope. Less traffic would be a start. Why not just have American truckers pick up the useless junk at the border, drive it to the Canadian border, and be done with it? Why do we have to have Mexican truckers going from Mexico through the USA, to Canada? The cargo gets inspected once it is well inside America, by MEXICAN INSPECTORS! I know that has nothing to do with gridlock, but it does have something to do with road hazards.
No, just Chicago traffic.
Ick. Probably just as bad as our traffic.
I didn’t know they were using already existing roads when I embarked on this exercise in self torture. Frankly, I’d be more than pleased to see NAFTA dead and buried in unhallowed ground.
Yes, traffic is increasing. It’s tearing up the roads, causing unecessary accidents, and costing us a bundle. I don’t know if a private company could do a better job faster to keep up with road repair, but it’s a good bet they’d be faster than a government agency like Caltrans.
Good luck with that.
Why do we have to have Mexican truckers going from Mexico through the USA, to Canada?
I don't know that that is what they're doing.
The cargo gets inspected once it is well inside America, by MEXICAN INSPECTORS!
No, it gets inspected by American inspectors while still in Mexico.
Probably just as bad as our traffic.
I read somewhere that Chicago traffic is worse.
Why? You think increased trade is bad?
but it’s a good bet they’d be faster than a government agency like Caltrans.
You got that right. The Illinois Tollway sucks. At least you don't have to deal with winter and salt.
From what I’ve read here, because MSM is not reporting this, is that Mexican trucks will be inspected in Kansas? Somewhere around that vicinity. No where have I read where American inspectors will continue to inspect foreign trucks crossing into the US.
Chicago traffic could very well be worse. I’ve never been there :(
No, I don’t think increased trade is bad. I think the way NAFTA interprets increased trade is bad. We’re dealing with governments that are as crooked as a dog’s hind leg, including our own.
Bwahahaha! Yes I do deal with winter, salt, and black ice. I live in the mountains :-D
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