Posted on 03/24/2005 2:46:35 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
McALLEN — As long as the Trans Texas Corridor has been in the works, Project Manager Jack Heiss has been answering questions about what’s taking so long.
"I get that question from people sometimes," he said.
"What people need to understand is that this is 4,000 miles. For a project of this size, it’s a very short period of their lives."
The corridor project has remained locked in the environmental survey phase for close to three years and will remain so until the summer of 2006.
But on Tuesday night, Heiss and other TxDOT representatives fielded questions at a public meeting in the McAllen Civic Center.
While traffic was slow, TxDOT spokesman Mike Cox said he’d heard a mixture of excitement and concern as he traveled the length of Texas to the communities under consideration.
"It looks like the (Rio Grande) Valley’s pretty ready for it. There’s been some opposition in other areas of Texas, largely out of concern for losing farmland or a business being hurt," he said.
"The Valley’s a gateway. You’ve got to have good transportation. Anyone who drives around here knows something needs to be done."
One of the few attendees at Tuesday’s event, Erica Hayward sells farmland across five counties and remains skeptical about the project.
"I understand the growth process, and the roadways we need, but I’m concerned," she said.
"I’m supposed to go up to Laredo tomorrow to look at a property, but I don’t know if I want to sell them a five-acre tract, a good part of which they could eventually lose."
The Trans Texas Corridor is expected to run from the Gainesville area of North Texas to either Laredo or the Valley. Heiss said whichever area of South Texas does not receive the corridor would almost certainly be named as the southern destination for the Interstate 69 Corridor, which is a few months behind the Trans Texas Corridor project and should connect Mexico and Canada through Houston.
Either way, Hayward, who grew up on a ranch, doesn’t believe farmers will take kindly to the intrusion on their land.
"A lot of the people don’t want their land connected," she said.
"Most ranchers have a lot of pride in being apart."
Despite their objections, the 1,200-foot wide model highway, which will include designated truck lanes, train rails and utility lines, has been proposed as the future of transportation in Texas, where 11 such corridors are expected to be constructed over the next 50 years, Cox said.
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James Osborne covers PSJA and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.
How the TTC is Different (03.23.05)
Last night I sent a CorridorWatch.org Member’s bulletin about the Trans-Texas Corridor article in today’s The Christian Science Monitor. One reply I received this morning asked a devil’s advocate question, “what makes this round of roads ... taking land... any different from the first generation of highway takings?”
It wasn’t the first time we have been asked about the differences between the development of the national Interstate Highways system and the Trans-Texas Corridor. Once I finished my reply I thought about the others might have the same question and could benefit from our exchange.
WHAT MAKES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRANS TEXAS CORRIDOR DIFFERENT FROM THE NATIONAL INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM?
(1) There is no clearly defined transportation need (e.g. site specific traffic study, etc.) for the Trans-Texas Corridor. In fact there are no specific routes or capacity specifications identified. The need for the Interstate Highway system was well defined and thoroughly understood. Elimination of grade crossings (intersections) was among the chief safety advantage of the Interstate Highway.
(2) There was no public discussion/debate prior to adoption of the Trans-Texas Corridor plan. The Trans-Texas Corridor was proposed by the Governor who tasked TxDOT with quickly drafting a plan. A plan which was approved and adopted by the Transportation Commission with a single meeting and without public input. In contrast the Interstate System was debated for years before the project was approved. During that time the Interstate System turn from toll roads to freeways and the routes evolved from avoiding large cities to running through them.
(3) In the past highway projects were driven by transportation needs; today the Trans-Texas Corridor & toll roads are driven by a need for revenue. That's a significant shift of public policy that has occurred without any substantive public input, discussion or debate.
(4) Secrecy. A stunning lack of governmental transparency in the bidding and contracting process. Another drastic shift of public policy that has occurred without any substantive public input, discussion or debate. Rationalized by the promise of innovation and other theoretical and unproven benefits, we have sacrificed open government and created a new and horrific potential opportunity for abuse.
(5) Profiteering. The Trans-Texas Corridor introduces state-sponsored monopolies for public infrastructure that includes transportation, utilities and economic development. The state’s private partners are motivated by profit above public service. The state will extend protections to ensure their private partner’s profits, and to ensure state revenues, sacrificing the just regard for adverse impact to the citizens of the state.
(6) Attack on the free enterprise system. Unlike our Interstate Highways, the Trans-Texas Corridor is a closed access facility that will not present the adjacent land owners with the same commercial development opportunities. Those opportunities are reserved for the state and their private partners. The state state-sponsored monopoly of economic development, and the redirection of traffic induced revenues, will directly compete with existing and future free enterprise. The state’s private partner will use the power of the state to gain an unfair competitive advantage.
These are but a few of the significant differences between today’s Trans-Texas Corridor and the national Interstate Highway System.
David K. Stall, ICMA-CM
CorridorWatch.org
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
if this is true, gov. perry ought to be kicked out of office.
hundreds of billions of dollars at stake, and how many of perry's chronies getting swiss bank accounts?
Stupid, VERY stupid, idea.
Let us not stop with the removal of perry.....his cohorts need to be removed also.
today's politics depends on the masses being intoxicated by sex, drugs, alcohol, hollywood movies, music, television, sports, shopping, etc.
and this is what you get. this is going to hit the middle class and lower income people very hard.
Nice post Tol, and thanks again for the ping.
BTT!!!!!!
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