A map of possible alternatives for TTC-35.
A concept of what the Trans-Texas Corridor will look like.
Posted on 02/14/2005 9:23:25 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Making tacks
By Kathy Williams
Herald Democrat
Editor's note: This is the first in an occasional series on the Trans-Texas Corridor and how it will affect Texoma drivers.
State officials held public hearings in Sherman and Gainesville this week on proposed paths of the Trans-Texas Corridor. The Corridor is a futuristic infrastructure promoters of the concept say will move people, freight and utilities as efficiently, safely and quickly as possible.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry introduced the concept in January 2002, estimating its total cost at $145.2 billion to $183.5 billion. The Texas Department of Transportation took the concept and developed an action plan that looked at design concept and finance options for the project that will be built over a 50-year span.
The original plan looked at various routes to run separate lanes for passenger cars, large trucks, freight trains, high-speed passenger trains, utility conduits and telecommunications lines. The finished size of the Corridor will see a 1,200 feet wide path across Texas. After conducting a round of public hearings, TxDOT has narrowed the focus of the initial construction to two north-to-south routes.
One route will begin in the Denison area and roughly follow the path of I-35 to the Mexican border. This is now referred to as TTC-35. The other route, dubbed TTC-69, begins near Texarkana and arcs parallel to the Gulf Coast and ends in Mexico, either near Laredo or Brownsville.
It was the TTC-35 proposed paths that brought representatives of TxDOT and its Texas Turnpike Authority Division as well as local transportation officials to Grayson and Cooke counties. The officials asked for public comment on the environmental aspects of various proposed routes.
As the TTC project moves forward, transportation planners are meeting with Cintra-Zachry, a Spanish corporation that TxDOT selected to develop TTC-35. Cintra-Zachry and TxDOT are negotiating a comprehensive development agreement outlining the conditions under which the private firm will plan, design, construct, finance and maintain and operate the Trans-Texas Corridor. These negotiations and the financial arrangements are not part of the public hearing process.
Minutes of the meetings of the Texas Transportation Commission are available through the Commission or on CorridorWatch.com, a group opposed to the Corridor.
The routes, at this point, are wide swaths that bypass the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to the east or to the west. The environmental studies will focus on which routes most efficiently move traffic and most successfully avoid interrupting communities of people and wildlife or historically or culturally important sites.
The environmental study is being conducted in two tiers.
In Tier 1, as comment comes in and is evaluated, the routes will narrow to a 10-mile wide corridor. As the Tier 2 public comment and environmental studies are completed, the corridor will narrow to 1,200 feet wide and pieces of that corridor will be built as needed over a 50-year timeline, said Dieter Billek, advanced project development director of the Texas Turnpike Authority Division. Tier 1 commentary could also result selecting a "no build" option, TxDOT material states.
The Tier 1 environmental study of TTC-35 began in 2004 and included an 800-mile-long, 50- to 60-mile wide path. Eventually, the path studied came to include 77 counties. The portion of the study that began Monday in Sherman will include 47 public hearings in cities along the various, proposed routes. Residents in Paris can attend the hearing from 5-8 p.m. Monday at the Paris Junior College Ballroom, 2400 Clarksville St. Fannin County residents are invited to attend a hearing from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Bonham High School Cafeteria, 1002 Warpath Dr.
By summer, TxDOT officials said, they expect to have a draft environmental impact statement ready. The statement will evaluate the various corridor option as well as the no action or no build option.
Following the publication of the draft environmental impact statement, the public will have more opportunities for comment before the final EIS is adopted. That statement would then go the federal government for approval. If the Federal Highway Administration approves, TxDOT will then move to Tier 2. The federal OK of the Tier 1 EIS does not grant permission to build the corridor.
Those who are not able to attend the public hearings may still tell TxDOT their feelings about the various optional routes by visiting the agency's Web site, write to: Trans-Texas Corridor Oklahoma to Mexico/Gulf Coast, Element (TTC-35) P.O. Box 14707 Austin, Texas 78761-4707 or call (877) TRANS.TX (877) 872-06789.
For information from those opposed to the Corridor, contact David or Linda Stall, CorridorWatch.org Inc. Fayetteville, TX 78940-5468 (979) 378-4116.
A map of possible alternatives for TTC-35.
A concept of what the Trans-Texas Corridor will look like.
Among other things, the two big problems I have with this is that it will be another case of government grabbing land from the owners, and the other is, using Mexican firms to develop and build it.
I will agree that I-35 is a mess, and hazardous to drive at times--but this just seems a bit of overkill to me.
DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS! (And this would be a really big messing with Texas for a very long time!)
And them's my two cents.
This is a pro Trans-Texas Corridor ping list.
Please let me know by Freepmail if you want on or off the list.
The map - do we have a legend on this, or a zoom that's readable? I'm zooming on mine, but can't read the text - and the map on the TTC site is next to useless.
Do you have more information on the colors on this map? Anyone?
Free Republic search on keyword "TTC"
Interview (Audio) NPR | February 8, 2005 A Superhighway for Texas?
Here's the website with more info and explanation:
http://www.keeptexasmoving.org/
Here's a list of meetings where you can ask questions(and I encourage everyone who can to attend and ask questions)
http://www.keeptexasmoving.org/pdfs/TTC-35_Public_Meetings.pdf
Here's a link to the map of the TTC-35 corridor alternatives, which are approximately 10 miles wide study areas (the actual selected single corridor will be at most 1/4 mile wide):
http://www.keeptexasmoving.org/pdfs/TTC- 35_Alternatives_Map.pdf
1990-2000 Population Growth of Border Metro Areas
Port of Houston teams up with Panama to draw a piece of Asia's massive trade away from West Coast
Trans-Texas Cooridor on track for completion
By STEPHEN MONAHAN, Register Staff Writer
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDot) held its first open house meeting of 2005 at the Civic Center Thursday night regarding to the construction of the Trans-Texas Corridor.
The Trans-Texas Corridor, in its initial phase, is a 10-mile wide network that stretches from the North Texas area to Mexico and/or the Gulf Coast and will be used as a transportation alternative for motorists and freight lines. The area will be narrowed to 1200 feet wide by the time construction is ready to begin.
TxDot's meeting Thursday allowed the public to view and conceive their own opinions of the superhighway's existence by use of standing placards and illustrations of the proposed area for the corridor's occupancy.
TxDot is using a tiered environmental study called Tier One which focuses on the project as a whole. The current study for the Oklahoma to Mexico/Gulf Coast encompasses about 800 miles long and includes 77 counties. Upon completion of the environmental study, the project size could be narrowed down to nearly 10 miles wide.
The environmental study is conducted according to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and is scheduled to be completed by spring 2006 with either a preferred corridor selected for construction or a no build option.
Doug Booher, TxDot's environmental manager of the Texas Turnpike Authority Division, said the idea of the corridor stems from three challenges Texas residents face in the next 50 years. The first, he said, is TxDot envisions a problem of population growth with an estimated 33,000,000 people in Texas by 2030.
Another challenge Texans face, Booher said, is the "level of service on the existing facilities is declining and there are congestion issues on the roadway."
A third challenge residents face is "truck and freight movement by rail will increase in the next 50 years," Booher said. "The State is trying to plan for the future transportation for Texas," he added.
The corridor's maximum capacity (10 miles wide) would consist of four lanes for trucks (semi's), six passenger lanes, two freight rails, two high-speed passenger rails, two commuter rails and a 200-foot utility zone consisting of water, electric, natural gas, petroleum, fiber optic and/or telecommunication lines.
But Booher frankly added that these lanes and rail lines will not be constructed unless there is a need.
As for the cost of the corridor's construction, it's a hefty one.
"The estimated cost for the construction of corridor for all modes of transportation is around $36,000,000 per mile," Booher said. "But if it's just for a truck or passenger facility, of course, it would be less."
The public was encouraged to also leave their feedback and comments by either writing or speaking their mind.
"On the whole, in general, it's positive," said Booher on the public's response to the corridor's construction. "There are certainly people who are negative, but we welcome all opinions. It's really in the hands of the citizens of Texas for this to go forth."
using Mexican firms to develop and build it
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
Please let me know if you want to be added or removed from the list. Thanks.
http://www.keeptexasmoving.org/pdfs/TTC-35_Alternatives_Map.pdf
Try the above map
So is this a NAFTA highway or is it to enhance the port of Houston's ability to deliver goods throughout America ?
Taking some of the shipping strain off east and west ports ???
Good educational info....thanks for the pings
Cooridor. The Daily Register strikes again!
It's that plus more. The idea is to keep long haul traffic away from urban areas so it doesn't clog up urban freeways. The first corridors will handle lots of NAFTA traffic.
Are my eyes deceiving me are is this planned to run through some of the most expensive realestate around houston. If so it's not going anywhere. do you have a close up view of the Montgomery County,etc areas?
Whoops! Meant to say Spanish firm!
Click the link in #10 and you can expand the map to look at the Houston area..... However the TTC-35 will be to the west of Houston as it will parallel I-35... The one that will get closer to Houston will be the I-69 Corridor which is much further out in time..... But my guess is it will be to the north and west of Montgomery couty for the most part.
http://www.i69corridorstudy.com/global/myarea/central.asp
The above shows the Houston area for the I-69 corridor and it shows Montgomery county to be included.... So who knows what they are looking at if anything at this time. This project is some 1600 miles from Port Huron Michigan to the Valley and crosses some 11 or so states if I remember correctly...
They don't have The Woodlands listed. does that mean it's ok.
They don't have The Woodlands listed. does that mean it's ok.
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