Trans-Texas Cooridor meeting set for Feb. 10

I think you underestimate the of the dollar spend by the voters, or in this case drivers, they alone will decide if this works or not. if they wont drive on the new tolls due to cost then they will drive on the gas tax supported roads. and expansion will be required. unfortunately if you look along any on the gridlock sections of I35 look to the left or the right and you can see the huge cost per mile to add lanes, never mind the years of construction and more gridlock. It about time some politician took the lead and thought outside the box. don't forget each of the laws and rule changes all had public hearings and open debate. having a road system that is thinking into the future that is funded by new private money but controlled by the public interests, in this case TX DOT, is a good thing. just adding lanes to a screwed up system is insane. lets get this truck traffic out of our urban areas where it belongs. do you think we will ever need heavy rail or intracity rail some point down the road, or having pipelines run through a safe corridor instead of by homes and schools, this is a forward looking project that will save us money now and down the road.

As you can see in this link, my major concern (noted in Post 114), is that the agreements that Perry is about to sign will likely contain a non-compete clause. That closes off the option of EVER upgrading our freeways (or at least for 50 years).

Do I think that the corridors are needed, or are a good idea? - yes, but not the private toll roads (or private train tracks, for that manner). This country has had horrible experiences when they've given private companies monopoly power, especially regarding surface transportation.

I do not want any single governor, not even Mother Teresa, to lock Texans into something that may be a disaster for the rest of their lives (and maybe our children's lives).

It would be a lot better if the governor and his people would take a deep breath and look at all options, and consult with the people, before making this size of a commitment. Since it's not going to happen, I guess we'll have to learn this the hard way.

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