Posted on 06/21/2006 4:09:34 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
ENNIS — Texas Turnpike Authority director Phillip E. Russell provided an update on the Trans-Texas Corridor 35 to members of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
Noting the upcoming public hearings, Russell said the Texas Department of Transportation, which oversees the Texas Turnpike Authority, continues to seek input regarding the proposed thoroughfare.
In Ellis County, hearings will be held in Ennis on July 10 and in Waxahachie on July 12.
Each public hearing will begin with an informal, open house from 5-6:30 p.m., followed by the public hearing itself at 6:30. Fifty-four hearings in all are scheduled from July 10-Aug. 10 throughout the TTC-35 study area.
Input from the hearings will be used to help determine the roadway’s final placement within a 10-mile wide study area as the TTC-35 makes its way from the border with Mexico to the Oklahoma border. The final route is expected to be no more than 1,200 feet in width.
The TTC-35 is expected to cross Ellis County between Waxahachie and Ennis, according to a map prepared as part of the draft environmental impact statement.
A tentative timeline would see federal approval of the 10-mile wide study area by next year, with another several years needed to complete the environmental impact study of the final, 1,200-feet wide route.
First announced in 2002, the TTC-35 is a proposed multi-use roadway that would incorporate separate lanes for passenger vehicles and large trucks, freight railways, high-speed commuter railways and utility infrastructure.
Plans for the TTC-35, which would be a tollway, are being developed by the Cintra/Zachry consortium, which has signed a 50-year contract with the state of Texas. Cintra/Zachry would finance and build the roadway in phases during the next 50 years and receive the toll revenue the roadway generates. However, all land acquired would be in the state of Texas’ name and the roadway itself reverts to the state of Texas at the end of the contract, Russell said, with a TxDOT Web site, www.keeptexasmoving.org, noting that the agency will oversee the planning, construction and ongoing maintenance of the TTC-35, with private vendors responsible for much of the daily operations.
Russell said TxDOT recognizes there are questions about the massive project and will try to take in those concerns during the upcoming public hearings. He noted the Web site has been set up to help keep people informed.
“The reality is, we simply don’t have the money (for the state to do the project by itself),” Russell said.
Lack of funding is a primary reason behind the public/private partnership represented by the TTC-35, with information from TxDOT indicating that transportation needs within the state have resulted from a growth in population of 57 percent and an increase in road usage of 95 percent during the past 25 years. During the same time frame, there was only an 8 percent increase in state road capacity.
The growth is expected to continue, with the population expected to increase another 64 percent in the next 25 years, causing an increase in road usage of 214 percent.
Funding for roads is not keeping up with the demand, Russell said, saying that planners have identified $188 billion in needed projects by 2030, but it is projected that only $102 billion in funding will be available.
Recognizing its lack of funding, the state is looking to several ways to finance future projects. According to information provided by Russell, the state Legislature has authorized new revenue tools, including safety bonds, the Texas Mobility Fund, toll equity and toll debt.
The state’s expectation is that more projects will be completed sooner at a lower cost through use of the different funding mechanisms, he said.
Even with the development of the TTC-35, Russell said work on Interstate 35 will not stop.
“We’re continuing that. The I-35 project is still going ahead without let up,” he said, noting that plans for the interstate’s expansion to up to eight lanes in some parts continue under way.
On the Internet:
Some other links of interest:
Companies compete for I-69 construction
A road project for which the Lege tolls (scroll down)
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
"www.keeptexasmoving.org"
That's an ironic name. Should be named "Keep China and Mexico moving into the Midwest and juice up Walmart's profits by using NAFTA to employ Mexican truckers.org ." Ok, too long. :)
Increase globalism plus a boon for the construction lobbies. A nice synchronicity.
Really? If this is all about Mexico trade, why are they building San Antonio-DFW by 2015, but not the connection south to Laredo until 2025?
Thanks for the ping!
So, we sell our country, bit by bit. We sell our ports to the Chinese and the Arabs, we sell our cattle ranches to the Japanese, and we sell our vehicle factories to Mexico, Japan, and Korea, and we sell our roads to the Spanish and Mexicans.
Who are they going to sell the national parks to, I wonder?
BTTT
You're welcome. :-)
bump.
From the article:
Plans for the TTC-35, which would be a tollway, are being developed by the Cintra/Zachry consortium, which has signed a 50-year contract with the state of Texas. Cintra/Zachry would finance and build the roadway in phases during the next 50 years and receive the toll revenue the roadway generates. However, all land acquired would be in the state of Texas’ name and the roadway itself reverts to the state of Texas at the end of the contract
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