Posted on 08/23/2006 7:43:39 AM PDT by Froufrou
One out of every eight votes in Rick Perry's margin of victory in the 2002 race for governor came from the rural counties along the Interstate 35 path of Perry's proposed Trans-Texas Corridor. Now, as he seeks re-election, Perry's long-range transportation vision is turning into a political liability for the Republican chief executive.
More than 14,000 Texans — almost all opposed to the Trans-Texas Corridor — turned out at public hearings held by the Texas Department of Transportation this summer to express their displeasure with the highway and the governor.
"I'd like to admit that I made one big mistake in my life. I voted for Rick Perry," Rogers-area farmer Leonard Cobb testified at one hearing.
All four of Perry's re-election challengers oppose the corridor. Democrat Chris Bell, independent Kinky Friedman and Libertarian James Werner all have spoken out against it. Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, running as an independent, attended many of the hearings and called the project the "Trans-Texas Catastrophe" while promising to stop Perry's "land-grabbing highway henchmen."
One of Perry's fellow Republicans on the statewide ballot — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison — also has criticized the project, saying it imposes too heavily on rural landowners.
The Republican Party of Texas in June passed a plank in its platform calling for the repeal of legislation authorizing the Trans-Texas Corridor.
The Texas Farm Bureau — a longtime Perry political supporter — wants the state to scrap the project.
A dozen alternative routes for Trans-Texas Corridor 35 are under consideration. The toll road corridor would run parallel to Interstate 35 through rural areas from Laredo to Oklahoma, bypassing city congestion to become the new trade highway.
Many of those at the hearings referred to the top alternative on the color map of the Trans-Texas Corridor as the "blue line," a pathway of eminent domain that would take homes and farms and churches for a toll road that likely would be built by a consortium headed by a Spanish company.
Farmers claim the 600-mile-long swath will cause the condemnation of about 136 square miles of land, could divide farms and could force rural school buses to go miles out of the way to get from one side of the corridor to the other. Many local officials fear it will remove land from their local property tax base.
"This lipstick has already been put on this pig. Now the only way to stop this boondoggle is to send Rick Perry home in November," Mark Wilson testified at a Waco hearing.
Texas Transportation Chairman Ric Williamson said the corridor concept is the only feasible means of easing congestion on state highways while guaranteeing future expansion when needed.
"For every 14,000 people who congregate and protest, there are 1.4 million in downtown Dallas and Fort Worth that recognize congestion on 35 is a problem and somebody's got to do something about it," Williamson said.
Officials of the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been generally neutral on the corridor concept, but they questioned the specific plan because its route bypassed the cities and would have done little to relieve local congestion.
Perry last Friday ordered the corridor study to include an alternative route proposed by local officials.
Dallas County Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, a Republican, said he believes people in the Metroplex largely would oppose the plan because it relies heavily on tolls and has included little public input in the planning.
"I dare say, if you took a vote in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, it would be voted down," he said.
The Trans-Texas Corridor actually is a series of new transportation corridors proposed across Texas that would be financed and built by private contractors and likely paid for with tolls.
The corridors probably would be about 1,200 feet wide to accommodate separate lanes for truck traffic, passenger traffic, freight rail, commuter rail and utilities.
So far, only two projects are even remotely on the drawing board.
TTC35 would run parallel to Interstate 35. The state has contracted with a consortium led by Zachry Construction Corp. of San Antonio and Cintra of Spain to develop a master plan for the corridor. That plan is what has been the subject of public hearings and public angst this summer.
TTC69, which would run from Mexico to past Houston, is in the preliminary planning stage.
"Fourteen thousand people is a nice turnout, but the fact of the matter is we're looking for input, any better ideas," Perry said of the hearings.
Perry said the population growth in the state and traffic congestion demand additional highways and that toll roads are a good way to pay for them. He said most of his political opponents have offered no alternatives, chiding Strayhorn for supporting expensive double-decking of Interstate 35 without explaining how to pay for it.
"As the chief executive officer of the state, as a person who has laid out a vision, I think it makes sense for most communities," Perry said. "I think it makes sense to build toll roads."
But the road for Perry's election may not be that easy on this issue.
Strayhorn on Monday outlined a plan to scrap the project and improve I-35 in the existing right of way with additional lanes and double-decking in places. Perry has contended that double-decking would be prohibitively expensive, but Strayhorn said it would be more appealing to affected Texans.
"This agency is not listening to the people," Strayhorn said of the transportation hearings.
Greg Gerig, a corn farmer and a director of the Blackland Coalition opposed to the corridor, said there is a feeling that state officials have been arrogant in their reaction to the turnout at the meetings.
"Perry has in effect said, 'We don't care what people at the hearings said; we're going to build it anyway,'" Gerig said.
Perry said he believes he can persuade voters to look at his entire record.
"If it is just a single-issue person who doesn't want toll roads, I'll do everything I can to explain to him why it is good, thoughtful public policy for the entire state of Texas."
Ping to Perry's road rage.
The only thing that may save Gov Goodhair is that there are three challenegers. If Kinky or She Of Many Names dropped out and their support went to the other he would be toast.
Ping
Gov Goodhair - I like that! Strayhorn may have already gained my vote...too soon to tell...
Ouch! Vicente is not on my long list of favorite people. Neither is NAFTA or CAFTA or whatever name they're selling shamnesty under this month...
I am leaning to her as well, but I do like Kinky. FOr me it will be one of those two.
I know and respect a young man who campaigns for Kinky but the only thing I know about him is his plans for dealing with employers who hire illegals, and I love that.
I am with you.
In fact, I think the gubernatorial office may be the best place to start in dealing with this problem. Evidently, starting with the POTUS is going to get us nowhere.
I would rather see this huge amount of money spent on a BORDER FENCE. We don't need no stinkin' road to Mexico.
Oh, well. Who cares as long as the we, the wealthy, make a little more money for a short period of time? Waiter! Another bottle of Dom Perignon, and make it snappy!
Yes Ma'am! I say, build the fence, make it electric, and man it with gattlin guns.
Strayhorn is for raising taxes, universal healthcare for children (that's socialized medicine in case you live in Rio Linda), opposed redistricting in Texas, and changes parties whenever it's convenient.
But vote as you please.
Hold on there, Dog. Consider the fact that TB is on the rise, and it's due to immigrants. Healthcare for children can help prevent disease, if you can get the stupid mothers to the clinicas.
Yes she is but she is still a whole lot better then Gov Goodhair.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.