(Trans-Texas) Corridor is topic of talk at open house

Dozens of area residents examined maps of proposed routes and discussed the implications of the proposed I-69 Trans-Texas Corridor at an open house Wednesday in Calallen.

Still in its preliminary stages, the proposed highway will stretch from Mexico to Canada. In Texas, it generally will follow U.S. Highway 59 from Texarkana to Victoria. From there it will split and go to both Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley, roughly following U.S. Highways 59 and 77.

The project is undergoing an environmental impact study, said Doug Booher, TXDOT environmental manager.

Fred Wollmann, who lives in the Calallen area, said he attended the forum to find out how his home and tax dollars would be affected.

"I want to know where this is going to happen and if it will be close to my home," Wollmann said. "This will be a drain on tax dollars and I want to know what's in it for me."

Corpus Christi City Councilman Jerry Garcia said the possible selection of Highway 77 as one of the corridors would mean significant growth for the area.

"I think it's a wonderful opportunity for the citizens to make sure the corridor services Corpus Christi and the surrounding areas," Garcia said.

From the San Antonio Express-News:

TxDOT officials blow off transportation summit

Web Posted: 08/11/2005 12:00 AM CDT

Patrick Driscoll
Express-News Staff Writer

IRVING — An eerie pall hung in the air at the eighth annual Texas Transportation Summit this week because, for the first time, nobody from the Texas Department of Transportation showed up.

TxDOT officials said they boycotted the state's premier transportation summit — called a national model by some — because they don't see eye-to-eye with a statewide coalition that grew out of the event.

"To have no one from TxDOT here is outrageous," said Kenneth Mayfield, a Dallas County Commissioner involved with the summit.

More than 1,100 government and industry officials from 35 states — including more than a dozen members of the Texas congressional delegation and the Legislature — have signed up for the event so far, which started Tuesday and runs through Friday.

It's the highest attendance ever.

But TEX-21, a coalition of city and county officials spawned by the transportation summit, has found itself in TxDOT's crosshairs.

State officials feel TEX-21 isn't open-minded enough about a proposed toll road that would parallel Interstate 35 to handle growing traffic congestion.

"We're operating on cross purposes," said TxDOT spokeswoman Gabby Garcia.

TEX-21 hasn't taken a position on the toll road, which is part of Gov. Rick Perry's Trans Texas Corridor.

But TEX-21 uses the lobbying firm of Dean International, which organizes the transportation summit and has helped Dallas and other cities voice concerns about the toll corridor's potential to divert traffic and commerce from I-35.

At a Texas Transportation Commission meeting last November, Chairman Ric Williamson told TxDOT staff to see him before participating in anything that Dean International is connected to.

"I don't have any patience for ad hoc, spur of the moment, last minute groups that spring up for no reason other than we've got to find a way to make a buck and scare people," he said.

TxDOT staffers have since stopped their quarterly meetings with TEX-21, said Mayfield, who chairs the group. And now, TxDOT has declined invitations to the transportation summit.

"I'm baffled, quite frankly," he said. "People aren't allowed to voice their concerns? Do we not live in America?"

The city of Irving, which sponsors the transportation summit and also hasn't taken a position on the Trans Texas Corridor, is caught in the middle, juggling a contract with Dean International and road projects with the state.

"It's very frustrating," said Irving City Councilman Rick Stopfer.

TxDOT officials showed up at the first seven summits, he said. Last year, 20 to 30 staffers were there and Williamson was a keynote speaker.

Meanwhile, some 20 to 30 TxDOT officials are on tap to attend the fourth annual San Antonio Regional Transportation Leadership Forum next month and Williamson has agreed to introduce Gov. Perry as the main speaker.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
pdriscoll@express-news.net

From the Longview News-Journal:

Mobility board wants western I-69 route

By JIMMY ISAAC

Thursday, August 11, 2005

TYLER – Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority officials hope a resolution passed Wednesday will help persuade a more western route for the proposed Interstate 69.

The resolution suggests "a route on the west side of Marshall." It will be sent to legislators and transportation officials at the state and federal levels.

The resolution was presented and voted on after Harrison County Judge Wayne McWhorter outlined planning and progress for the proposed interstate.

"I think maybe everyone knows where this thing is going," McWhorter said of the Trans-Texas Corridor, which would provide controlled-access travel from Port Huron, Mich., near the Canadian border, to Laredo following along U.S. 59. The judge said the corridor, which would pass through "11 important metro areas," accounts for 63 percent of the nation's truck-born traffic and could "touch a lot of lives, will create 27,000 jobs, $11 billion in wages over the next two decades and $11 billion in transportation efficiency benefits."

After the meeting McWhorter, who is not on the authority board, said he took the board's vote as a strong sign of support for what he and other Harrison County and Marshall officials have been fighting for – close proximity of the I-69 route to Marshall.

"It's pretty exciting that they called and asked me to come over, make a presentation and then endorse the TxDOT proposal" for tentatively locating the route near Marshall, McWhorter said after the meeting.

Where the route is placed could affect the placement of the proposed East Texas Hourglass, a connection of Loop 49 in Smith County and an outer loop around Longview.

If I-69 runs through western Harrison County, the Hourglass could be set up to the northeast to give Tyler and Longview better mobility to Texarkana and points north.

Mobility Authority board member Jay Stokes of Gregg County said the route of the Hourglass is still "very much up in the air." Several proposals include swinging the highway up from Smith County and Interstate 20 through a location near the Gladewater-Clarksville City limit boundaries. Regardless of location, Stokes said the Hourglass "would be very important for all of Gregg County."

McWhorter said location studies for I-69 are almost done, and environmental studies could be tackled in three to five years.

"Most of the mayors and county judges along Highway 59 are together and traveling together in this effort," he said, referring to several trips to Washington, Austin and Houston. "It's a large coalition, and we really want your support."

In other business, the authority adopted its by-laws, outlining its policies for the board and officeholders. Linda Butter was named vice-chairman, while Stokes was named secretary and Tab Beall was named treasurer. The board also approved Jeff Warr as assistant secretary and Gary Holbrooks as assistant treasurer.

The board also unanimously voted to establish a banking account with Longview-based Texas Bank and Trust, which also has operations in Tyler.

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