Texas signs deal for transportation corridor

The Dallas Morning News ^ | March 12, 2005 | TONY HARTZEL

[Jedidah]

From CorridorWatch.org:

HOUSE BILL 3363 FILED FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2005.

It took CorridorWatch.org a full day to catch-up, but today we discovered our prayers were answered when House Bill 3363 was filed yesterday.

BILL WOULD PLACE A 2-YEAR MORATORIUM ON TxDOT TOLLS AND THE TTC.

On Friday, Representative Garnet Coleman (Houston) filed the most significant bill relating to toll conversion and the Trans-Texas Corridor.

The one-page bill goes directly to the point.

First, it requires TxDOT to report obligated funds and discretionary funds available in each district. Every elected city, county and state official would be copied on the report each year.

Second, it places a two-year moratorium on TxDOT imposing a toll on any portion of a state highway or roadway that did not have a toll in effect on or before the effective date of the Act.

Third, it places a two-year moratorium on implementation of the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Fourth, it establishes a 15-member committee to perform a comprehensive study of the Trans-Texas Corridor and the use of tolls, bonds, and other revenue sources for the inancing of state highway and roadway construction and maintenance. The committee will hold meetings and public
hearings and make a complete report, including findings and
recommendations and drafts of any legislation considered necessary, available to the public not later than October 1, 2006.

THIS IS IT! THIS IS THE LEGISLATION TEXAS NEEDS TO ALLOW CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND INPUT BEFORE WIDESPREAD AND FAR-REACHING TOLL PROJECTS AND THE TRANS-TEXAS CORRIDOR ARE IRREVERSABLE.

NO MATTER WHAT CALLS AND/OR LETTERS YOU SENT BEFORE TODAY – YOU NEED TO MAKE MORE CALLS AND SEND MORE LETTERS PERSONALLY ASKING YOUR REPRESENTATIVE, YOUR SENATOR, SPEAKER CRADDOCK AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR DEWHURST
TO SUPPORT HOUSE BILL 3363. ASK THAT THEY ADD THEIR NAME TO THE BILL.

THIS BILL MUST HAVE BROAD BI-PARTISAN SUPPORT TO PASS AND SURVIVE THE PROMISED VETO BY THE GOVERNOR.

Everyone should support this bill. It does not kill either tolls or the Trans-Texas Corridor. It does provide an opportunity for serious consideration and reconsideration. It slows the process down from todays headlong rush. It will allow meaningful public input. It will ensure that
our legislature is fully informed about toll and corridor issues before they are implemented. It is both a rational and reasonable action.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. PLEASE ACT THIS WEEK.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK, EVERYONE IN YOUR CLUB, ASSOCIATION, CHURCH, AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD - SUPPORT HB-3363!

Don't know who your representatives are?
Check Here: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/fyi/fyi.htm

MAILING ADDRESSES:

The Honorable (your Senator’s name)
Texas Senate
PO Box 12068
Austin, TX 78711-2068

The Honorable (your Representative’s name)
Texas House of Representatives
PO Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768-2910

The Honorable David Dewhurst
Lt. Governor’s Office
PO Box 12068
Austin, Texas 78711-2068

The Honorable Tom Craddick
Texas House of Representatives
PO Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768-2910

The Honorable Garnet Coleman
Texas House of Representatives
PO Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768-2910

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST AND SUPPORT.

[E.G.C.]

BTT!!!!!!

[buffyt]

85 sounds great to me. Drove on Autobahn in Germ. over 100mph and if the car is built for that speed it feels like 55 or 60. No problem. And now that we have a Porsche Carerra, it is HARD to go less than 100. You step on the gas and it FLIES.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Hey, if they actually build this thing, I'd like to have at least one run on it. If the speed limit's 85, that means I'll be doing 90, 95. It'll be sweet!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Check out Reply #41 (Corridor Watch announcement).

[ken21]

gracias, senor.

i'll write some letters.

this is an important issue, and i don't understand why it's not on the front page.

[BobL]

Thanks Ken - I was out of town, enjoying the last days of a functional Texas freeway system.

[BobL]

"Portions of this agreement are being kept secret under the guise that they contain proprietary business information...."

In a word: NIXONIAN

I knew from Day One that Cintra and Perry would never let us see just how badly the drivers of Texas are getting shafted. There is NO REASON to hide any portion of the contract - everyone knows how tolling works, and, for us middle class people, we hate it.

We drivers in Texas are stuck with it for the next 50 years, whether we like it or NOT. Wait - there is one reason to hide the details, that's to avoid the political firestorm that's sure to follow if the details were ever known.

[B-Chan]

Lighten up, BobL. No one is getting shafted. This transport system is going to do for Texas what the Interstate System did for America as a whole -- give us a tremendous business and logistical advantage over other states.

People whined and moaned about Ike when he proposed the Interstate System, too. Those people were wrong then and their modern-day equivalents are wrong now.

I can't wait to buy the bonds.

[BobL]

"People whined and moaned about Ike when he proposed the Interstate System, too."


The only thing that you've managed to prove in your posting is that people who complain about proposed freeways are full of it. I happen to agree with that in at least in 98% of the cases (with the Big Dig and a few other "Demonstration Projects" being the exception).

What I want you to show me is where people are HAPPY with Cintra toll roads - particularly concerning the non-compete clauses and the the tolling rates (other than politicians who get to drive for free).

Otherwise I will not be silenced.

Also - since you're so confident that Perry is the second coming of Eisenhower when it comes to surface transportation, tell me why the contract needs to be kept secret. After all, if it's such a great deal for Texas, it should be held out as a model for the country.

[BobL]

Sorry for being a bit short-tempered, but I just got back from driving 500 miles on Texas freeways today.

Total Cost: $75 ($40 for gas, $35 for maintenance, depreciation is not a factor for my cars). Of the $40 for gas, $10 was for gas tax (about $5 to state, $5 to feds).

What ticks me off is that our lovely governor is going to add at least $100 to my drive, so a bunch of European investors can build new condos on the French Riviera. [[yea, yea, I know, these Cintra toll roads will have NO EFFECT on our freeways - yea right - then why the secret contract?? - obviously, there is something to hide]]

[MarshallDillon]

IOW he's just another opportunistic creep sucking at the public tit, his party affiliation is indeed RINO.

I couldn't have said it better myself. "Creep" indeed.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[biff]

I bet he walks away from defeated guv seat with more money in his pocket than Bill and Hill did after 8 yrs in the white house. What, maybe 20 or 30 million???

[MarshallDillon]

I agree. Check this out -
Perrys Road Lobby contributions-
http://www.tpj.org/Lobby_Watch/perryroads.html

More- check out the politicians
http://www.austintollparty.com

And http://www.corridorwatch.com

And http://www.firericwilliamson.com