Transportation hearings to be held

Public hearings on a narrowed study area and alternatives for the Trans-Texas Corridor-35 will be held in the future, after work is completed on the draft environmental impact statement, TxDOT officials said in a press release.

TxDOT, in consultation with the Federal Highway Administration, has identified areas under consideration and these are in a 4,000-page draft environmental impact statement covering a 10-miles wide study area and including information on criteria such as natural and cultural resources.

TTC-35 extends from Oklahoma and Mexico on a highway with less entrance and exit ramps than currently built on state and interstate highways. It is a part of Texas’ transportation plan to take care of existing and future transportation needs. At its completion, TTC-35 will include roads, rail and utilities.

“We want to do this right. It takes time to conduct a thorough analysis,” said Michael Behrens, executive director of TxDOT. “It’s hard to predict the timing of things but we hope to have the draft statement available for public review within the next 3 to 6 weeks.”

Once the draft statement is completed, it will be posted on the project Web site, www.keeptexasmoving.org, and soon after be distributed to most libraries and TxDOT offices within the project’s study area.

TxDOT will also notify elected officials, regional transportation planning groups, property owners and other interested individuals and groups of the draft statement’s availability.

More than 50 public hearings throughout the study area are tentatively scheduled to begin in May. A list of hearings will be posted on the project Web site as soon as it is finalized.

TxDOT will release study on Trans-TX Corridor

By Bryan Kirk

The Gazette-Enterprise

Published February 26, 2006

AUSTIN — Officials with the Texas Department of Transportation announced Wednesday they are weeks away from completing a draft environmental statement on a “narrowed area study” for the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor 35 (TTC-35) project.

TxDOT and the Federal Highway Administration have been working on the 4,000-page document, which identifies a 10-mile-wide study area. It includes information about the effect the corridor’s construction will have on environmental resources, such as wetlands and natural ecosystems, as well as cultural resources, such as military installations and burial grounds.

“This is still being worked on,” said TxDOT spokesperson Gabby Garcia. “We are working with the FHA on the document so we can print it out for public comment.”

Garcia said TxDOT initially planned to have the statement completed by now, and many potentially affected residents expressed concerns.

“People were wondering if they missed a public hearing,” she said

The TTC-35 project is expected to be up to 1,200 feet wide with separate lanes for passenger vehicles and trucks, as well as high-speed rail, freight and commuter rail and a 200-foot-wide utility zone.

Although in the very early stages, TTC-35 could affect 70 Texas counties between the Oklahoma border and the Mexican border, including Guadalupe County.

“We want to do this right. It takes time to conduct a thorough analysis,” said Michael Behrens, executive director of TxDOT. “It’s hard to predict the timing of things, but we hope to have the draft statement available for public review within the next three to six weeks.”

Gov. Rick Perry envisioned TTC as a way to address Texans’ future transportation needs — a vision that will be financed through either toll revenue or the Texas Mobility Fund.

More than 50 public hearings in the study area will kick off in May — about 45 days after the plan is made public, Garcia said.

I think the TTC will be the inverse of the SCSC (Super Conducting Super Collider). Remember it? Multi-billion $ science project? It had all kinds of supprt so long as it had numerous states bidding to host it, and grab all th emoney it involved. As soon as it was awarded to Texas the rest of the Country lost interest and it died from lack of funding.

Right now the map of potential TTC routes cuts a huge swath across Texas. I'm about halfway ready to predict that the oppostion to the TTC will largely die down once the route is narrowed, as the folks who know that thier land is safe will cease caring very much if the TTC is built somewhere else.

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