Posted on 07/19/2006 12:42:54 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Mike Behrens, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Human memory is often selective. Some people remember an incident from their past quite clearly. Others — sometimes those involved in the same event — have no recollection of it at all.
A case in point: America's 48,000-mile interstate highway system, authorized by a stroke of President Eisenhower's pen in 1956 — a half-century ago.
Our 3,200 miles of interstate in Texas now make highway travel safer and easier. The new road system also brought unprecedented economic growth to the state.
Even so, many of us recall that lively and intense public debate helped create the good that came with the interstate highways. Many property owners did not want to sell their land for a new highway. Some cities fought the interstates. Others saw the system as governmental folly and a colossal waste of tax money — or worse.
In the intervening decades, the interstate system was built and America prospered with improved mobility, better safety and a stronger economy.
Today, we take this system for granted, having largely forgotten the controversy that came with it. But major growth of the interstate system in Texas, for all practical purposes, stopped in the 1970s. Since then, population and traffic have outpaced the state's road system.
One of the great lessons learned from the development of the interstate system is the importance of planning. It is never too early to plan for the future, particularly when you're talking about Interstate 35.
Already, about 45 per cent of the state's population lives within 50 miles of I-35. More people come to live and work in this narrow band of Texas every day.
The Trans-Texas Corridor, and the TTC-35 component that will parallel I-35, is the best solution to the problem. Private-sector funding of this Texas-owned facility makes it feasible.
It will relieve traffic congestion and expand economic opportunity along its path. The Trans-Texas Corridor also will provide a route for evacuations before storms.
Texans always have a seat at our planning table. With a new round of public hearings on the TTC-35 segment under way, we invite all Texans with a stake in this exciting project to attend the meeting scheduled for their area.
We want your input. You can find the dates, times and locations of meetings on our Web site: www.txdot.gov.
Behrens is executive director of TxDOT.
Trans-Texas Corridor:
Pros: Keep Texas Moving
Cons: Corridor Watch
For more articles mentioning the Trans-Texas Corridor:
PING!
I do not know a single Texan who is in favor of this. Not one.
I do not know a single Texan who is in favor of this. Not one.
Me either! Hopefully they won't start it until We're dead and gone.
I am.
Yeah, I know the felling.
BTTT
Take a look at who owns the land they want to build the TTC -- there has not been such a greedy sale of land to a government since LBJ & Lady Bird in the 1960's.
Odd, since numerous freepers have posted on these threads refuting the hysteria and lies thrown out against this road, and noting that it is just a road like those preceeding it and that we need more roads. I've specifically posted argued in favor of it with you several times. You seem to play fast and loose with the facts.
Beyond FR I encounter mixed opinions, but several changed their minds to in favor when they heard the facts such as those posted above. There is a whole lot of lies and bullsh!t being tossed about by the anti-TTC groups, as evident in the myths that many of the above statements addressed.
People rarely take time to attend a public meeting when they are in favor of a project that appears to be going forward. Most meetings are dominated by those either in opposition or those in support when there is a danger of what they support being ended.
Fear and worry brings people to meetings, not contentment.
You mean when you mislead them with false information, etc.
What no bid process? Cintra-Zachry submitted a proposal, TXDOT reviewed it, decided it was a good idea and opened the project to competitive bidding, and Cintra-Zachry's bid was judged the best overall deal for the state. If you contact TXDOT they can probably quickly give you whatever the criteria matrix was that was used in evaluating the bids, and probably specific info on how each bid ranked. I have no idea how many bids there were, but who bid and the criteria is public record.
So yeah, if you are spread false info, your actions might be an issue. Hopefully you were simply misinformed.
Who owns the land?
Thanks for the ping!
Well that's another falsehood you've posted, since there is no freight-rail portion right now. All that has been bid out is the tollway (road) concession.
A private group (IIRC either Cintra or Zachry is a partner in this group) has made a proposal to build a freight rail line along much of the corridor (though they propose that this rail portion run west of Ft. Worth, unlike the road section) but TXDOT is only evaluating it right now. If at least 1 of the 2 major railroads in Texas (UP, BNSF) don't commit to reroute a certain amount of their rail traffic to it, it won't get built. The 3rd railroad, KCS, by itself probably can't generate enough traffic to cover the project costs. And of course TXDOT could go in a completely different direction with the rail portion, such as partnering with various railroads, or the railroads may come up with their own proposals. It isn't yet clear that a private toll-model will work with the rail line, nor is it clear that the rail portion will get built anytime soon.
If it does reach a level of feasibility, TXDOT will put out a request for bids on the project, as required by law. That could happen within the year, or perhaps not for 20-years, if ever. All the TTC is doing is reserving ROW if there is a possibility of a future need for each element, but each won't get built until viewed as viable or in the public interest (meaning political pressure, such as from Austin and San Antonio which want to move the freight out from existing tracks and convert those to transit uses.)
Seriously, you really need to fact-check anything you read on the anti-TTC websites, there are a lot of lies being put out.
bump.
So, why does Cintra-Zachry keep certain contract info secret after the bid was won for TTC-35?
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