Posted on 06/25/2005 2:42:40 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Cintra-Zachry, the joint construction venture that won a $7 billion contract to start work on the controversial Trans Texas Corridor project, has written a letter to the Federal Highway Administration expressing interest in a $320 million low-interest loan.
Critics say Cintra-Zachry won the contract in part because it said it would not use public dollars, but the governor’s office and the consortium say the deal didn't prohibit using federal money. Only state money was mentioned.
Kathy Walt, spokeswoman for the governor, says the inquiry involves a loan, not a grant.
But some state leaders remain skeptical.
Mike Sizemore, press secretary for Senator Ken Armbrister, says the deal was touted as using private funds. He says this is the first he's heard of them essentially seeking tax money for the project.
The Texas Department of Transportation signed a contract in April with the Cintra-Zachry consortium for planning of the controversial project, which is the most ambitious highway construction project since the Eisenhower administration launched the effort to build an interstate highway system.
The $184 billion plan calls for a 4,000-mile network of transportation corridors that would crisscross the state with separate highway lanes for passenger vehicles and trucks, passenger rail, freight rain, commuter rail and dedicated utility zones.
Designers envision a corridor with six separate passenger vehicle lanes and four commercial truck lanes; two high speed passenger rail lines, two freight rain lines and two commuter rail lines and a utility zone that will accommodate water, electric, natural gas, petroleum, fiber optic and telecommunications lines.
Under the agreement, Cintra-Zachry will begin work on a master development plan for the first segment of the corridor, which will parallel Interstate 35 from San Antonio to Oklahoma.
The plan will take 12 to 15 months to complete, Perry’s office said.
Cintra, which is an international engineering and construction firm, and the San Antonio-based Zachry Construction Corporation, have agreed to provide $7.2 billion for construction of the first six segments of the project, Perry’s office said.
According to published reports, Cintra will spend $6 billion to build a four-lane toll road on the corridor and will pay the state $1.2 billion in return for the exclusive rights to operate the toll road for 50 years.
Cintra would also operate businesses along the route.
Officials in Interstate 35 corridor cities such as Waco and Dallas are concerned about the commercial impact of the project.
McLennan County Commissioners approved a resolution in February opposing the corridor.
The Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau also opposes the project because of concerns about the loss of farm and ranchland and the impact of the construction on the tax base of Texas counties and communities.
Click Here For Interactive Map Of Proposed Corridor Route
Click Here For Trans-Texas Corridor Web Site
Click Here For Background Information On The Trans-Texas Corridor
Click Here For An Opposing Point Of View From Corridor Watch
Socking. Who'd have thunk it?
just think, how many times do you actually get to see a multi million dollar boondoggle unfurl right before your eyes?
Texas corridor developer now seeks public funding
Deal had been sealed largely on plan to use private money
Cintra-Zachry, the consortium that won a $7.2 billion development deal from the state for the first part of the Trans-Texas Corridor largely because it said it would use private money on the massive project, is looking for public funds to help subsidize the corridor's first segments.
The partnership has filed a letter with the Federal Highway Administration stating its interest in applying for a $320 million low-interest loan. If approved, it would help pay for the estimated $1 billion, 42-mile State Highway 130 extension from south of Austin to Seguin that the company identified as a potential corridor project in its letter to federal officials.
For months, state officials have touted the Trans-Texas Corridor as a way to get 316 miles of needed toll roads and rail lines built from North Texas to San Antonio without the use of public funds. And when the state and Cintra-Zachry signed the deal March 11, Gov. Rick Perry's office issued a news release saying that the construction would be done "at no cost to taxpayers."
"I believe we always said state dollars" would not be used, said Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Gaby Garcia, drawing a distinction between federal and state money. "At the time Cintra-Zachry came on, we looked only at [whether there would be] the inclusion of state dollars. That's how we defined it."
In December, Cintra-Zachry officials outlined some of their financial and development plans for the corridor, which prominently included private funding for the public project.
The rest is at dallasnews.com
What are your thoughts of the use of eminent domain to acquire land for this project?
Traditionally, it was legitimate when highways were built and owned by the government.
But this one is supposedly being built by "private" enterprise.
In a way, it is no different than the recent SCOTUS ruling that has everybody pi$$ed-off.
I don't support eminent domain in this case. It's like that Marina project in Freeport, TX, that's been given the OK by the supreme court. Sure, you could say it's a public facility, but it's still being developed by private interests, which could, in time, restrict the public access, so fuhgedaboudit!
GOVERNOR PERRY SIGNS TRANSPORTATION BILL (HB2702)
Governor Perry signed this legislative session's large transportation bill (House Bill 2702) into law Tuesday.
While the Governor touts the bill as adding protections, CorridorWatch.org is more guarded in heaping such praise on the new legislation. David Stall, co-founder of CorridorWatch.org says a complete analysis detailing the good, the bad, and the ugly impact of HB2702 will soon be released by his organization.
Speaking of an Associated Press article appearing across Texas today Stall says, "The AP has got it wrong when they report that the new legislation will maintain state oversight of toll rates. By law the state never had toll oversight on the Trans Texas Corridor and this new law only provides that the state will review the formula used to set tolls over which they will still have no control."
The CorridorWatch.org analysis of HB2702 is expected to be released before the end of June.
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CorridorWatch.org
This is how Boston's Big Dig started...asking the Feds for a few million to get the project going. How many BILLION of our tax dollars have been ripped off by the MA Mafia now? Taxpayers all over the US ought to contact their Congressmen and tell them not to get involved with this ill-conceived scheme in Texas.
Life in fast lane
3 Grayson entities green light TTC (06/14/2005)
By Jerrie Whiteley
All roads could lead to Grayson County in the near future, so it may seem. Three different entities held public meetings Monday morning to approve a resolution about the Trans-Texas Corridor.
Grayson County Commissioner's Court, Grayson Regional Mobility Authority and the Sherman and Denison Metropolitan Planning Organization each approved a plan that would bring the corridor through Grayson County.
According to information provided in the meeting, the TTC is a transportation network in the planning stages. The idea uses pieces of land up to 1,200 feet wide to carry parallel links of expressways, rails, and utility lines to move traffic and supplies from south Texas to North Texas.
Grayson County Commissioner Gene Short said the TTC could use existing roadways or could run parallel to existing roadways. Either way, Short said, the plan the three entities approved Monday would help manage traffic through the Grayson County area for years to come and, hopefully, spur economic development in the area.
The expressway portion would be divided into two separate elements: truck lanes and lanes for passenger vehicles. The rail lines in the corridor would also be split to allow for freight, commuter and high-speed rail travel. Services such as water, electricity, natural gas, petroleum and telecommunications are expected to also be included in the corridor.
The TTC will require about 4,000 miles of roadway. The project will most likely be paid for with the use of tolls. The current plan has a projected cost of about $183 billion.
The plan approved Monday, Short said, is the chance to tell the state what local leaders would like to see happen with the TTC.
He said one possibility would have the TTC tie-in with the Dallas North Tollway and the proposed extension of State Highway 289 to bring traffic to the area of the Grayson County Airport. The plan would also, Short said, offer a tie-in to U.S. Highway 75.
"That would provide the traffic that they will need for a toll road," Short said. He said the whole thing is just in the planning stages, but local leaders wanted to let the state see a route that would be most advantageous to the Grayson County area.
A decision about which of the numerous options will be chosen should be announced sometime in the fall of 2006. Until then, local leaders will continue to monitor the TTC project while moving forward with the 289 extension.
Although both the Sherman and Denison Metropolitan Planning Organization and the RMA held public hearings on the resolution Monday, no one from the community stepped forward to discuss the matter. Both the MPO and the RMA approved the resolution without much discussion among their members.
Grayson County commissioners discussed the matter briefly.
Grayson County Judge Tim McGraw thanked State Representative Larry Phillips for his help with the project and also thanked Short for his work on transportation issues. McGraw said projects like the TTC and the 289 extension are attempts to help manage traffic and improve the quality of life for the people who live in the area.
Perry should get a very nice Retirement out of this deal.
Hang on to your wallets!
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
Gov. Perry, forget about this nonsense. Where are our property tax cuts??
has written a letter to the Federal Highway Administration expressing interest in a $320 million low-interest loan.
I could use a federal loan. They wouldn't miss it and I would pay it back in 20 years. Plus, the project would produce taxable property. Win-win.
Is the TTC going to have designated lanes for drug traffic and illegal aliens. If not, there's no point in building it.
AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
Rick Perry has no intention of winning even if he runs for re-election. Wonder what gravy train he's got lined up for himself when he's defeated? Whatever it is the Governor's mansion must not be big enough to hold a wallet that fat.
thanks.
whether she or he wins or not, strayhorn will get these issues aired in public.
what more can you hope for in our diminished republic?
when the public sees what perry has done, they'll reject his over-priced, corrupt toll roads.
ping.
I like the concept of a multi-use artery but if this outfit needs a loan just to get off the ground they obviously aren't the men for the job.
Oh Look! A high speed way to run over the border. Just in time for CAFTA sending our jobs south and their poor north.
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