ACS competes with Ferrovial for new Trans Texas Corridor contracts

Fferrovial, ACS eye Texas corridor deal

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Spanish construction companies Ferrovial SA (FER.MC) and Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA (ACS.MC) will compete in two different consortia for a new trans-Texas corridor multibillion project of nearly 1,000 kilometers of roadways and railroads, reports [Spanish-language Newspaper] Expansion in its Tuesday Internet edition.

The corridor will link Texas' northeast area with Mexico and the winner won't be announced until spring of 2007, the paper adds.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.expansion.com

Patrick Barkman: Can’t breathe? Take the TTC to OKC

Environmentalism as a political movement owes its existence to the Republican Party. It was the last good Republican president, Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote, “Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying, ‘The game belongs to the people.’ So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The ‘greatest good for the greatest number’ applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose and method.”

Roosevelt also said, “The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others.” The Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act, were all signed into law by Richard Nixon in 1970. It is, therefore, surprising and disappointing to see the extent to which the GOP has become the party of “greed and selfishness.” I would pay good money to see the Bush administration merely ignore the environment; instead, from the moment he took office, George W. Bush has declared war on America’s natural resources, wildlife and wilderness areas. From his insistence on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (the last sliver of Alaska’s North Shore not already open to exploration), to expanded drilling, mining and logging on public lands (all heavily subsidized by the taxpayer), to his plan to privatize the National Park Service, Bush has consistently worked to rob the “unborn generations” Roosevelt spoke of 90 years ago of their birthright.

Texas has never exactly been on the cutting edge of either conservation or environmentalism. Our laws are antiquated and obsolete, our enforcement agencies weak, our politicians blatantly for sale. Gov. Rick Perry, however, is virtually in a class by himself, a failing class. While our under-funded state parks are literally crumbling, he and Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson are working to sell off protected lands. Patterson in particular has been hard at work trying to spin this auctioning of public resources through double-talk, obfuscation and political hot air. Cleburne State Park was recently “featured” in another newspaper with the dubious honor of being the poster child for the embarrassing reality of the second largest state in the Union’s unwillingness to spend even money already appropriated to keep its parks from falling apart. Rick Perry’s response? The governor has actually called for more budget cuts for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Perry’s crowning glory, however, is his pet boondoggle, the Trans Texas Corridor, a multi-billion dollar concrete abomination that will pave over 580,000 acres of wilderness and farmland right through the heart of the state, increasing pollution (due to increased traffic), and fragmenting wildlife habitats. This monstrous toll-road will be operated a foreign (Spanish) corporation, Cintra, which has been granted unprecedented powers to condemn property, including denying citizens the right to a court hearing to determine the fair market value of their land before its seized. Like the new subsidized Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington, the TTC was specifically exempted from new state laws that bar the taking of private property for the benefit of corporations. Even worse, the contract with Cintra contains secret provisions that both the company and the Texas Department of Transportation have refused to disclose, in spite of an attorney general’s opinion that they must.

When U.S. Senate Candidate Barbara Radnofsky pointed out the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars Cintra’s partner, Zachry Construction, has pocketed over the years and the donations they have made to both Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, the company was downright miffed. How dare the peasants presume to question their betters? Shut up and eat your concrete! Perry and TxDOT have gone out of their way to limit public input and belittle the thousands of Texans who have turned out at public hearings to voice their overwhelming opposition to this bloated, unwieldy cement trough for funneling special-interest money. How can Republicans support this? Where are the rabid, paranoid anti-government loonies when you really need them? Actually, it’s only Rick Perry and his cronies, not even all or most Republicans; both the Democratic and Republican state conventions adopted platforms opposing the TTC. So, folks, whether you are a tree-hugger, a hunter or just someone who’s developed a fondness for breathable air and drinkable water, it’s time to stand up and make your voice heard. Decades from now, when our grandchildren have never seen a tree that wasn’t planted in someone’s front yard or a deer outside of the zoo, are they really going to thank us because Mexican trucks can roar from the Rio Grande to the Red River, hauling cheap products north and their jobs south?

Patrick G. Barkman is a Cleburne resident who invites you to comment on this column and enjoy additional wise-crackery and general political incorrectness at his blog, thelocalcrank.blogspot.com/.

Perry's road revolution could take electoral toll (correction)

A front page story on transportation issues in Sunday's paper incorrectly identified the Texas town where Gov. Rick Perry was raised. It was Paint Creek.

It’s not just the Democrats (letter to the editor)

Dear editor,

I read with concern that The Weatherford Democrat has taken the bait and is now doing the bidding for the Democratic Party. Attempting to link the Trans Texas Corridor to Republican candidates at all levels is obviously a concerted effort by Democrats in Austin who are trying to save their floundering campaigns.

Last time I checked, Senator Hutchison is a federal official and is not responsible for the authorization of the Trans Texas Corridor. It is a state issue. And, as recently as last week, Senator Hutchison was quoted in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram voicing strong concerns about the Trans Texas Corridor. She also sponsored a federal amendment to prohibit tolling existing highways last year.

To say she supports the project is irresponsible. Political ads should be bought and paid for during election years by campaigns, not in-kinded by editorial boards.

Anne Bergman,

Sen. Hutchison’s Chairman,

Weatherford

Trans-Texas Corridor PING!

The opposition to this boondoggle is building by the day.

ping

BTTT

Any politician who supports this BS needs to be removed from office ASAP.

bump.

The opposition is nothing compared to the opposition if the state were to try to pay for it by increasing the gas tax.

Why pay for it, this much road is not needed. Yes we need to expand the road but no where near this much.

Texans won't be the Texans I know if this road is actually built.

Double deck it?

No, we just now do not need as many lanes as they are planning. And if the rubber hits the road, I would prefer to pay for it with taxes instead of a privately controlled toll road. The way I see it if politicos had to do it this way the size would shrink in short order.

And if the rubber hits the road, I would prefer to pay for it with taxes instead of a privately controlled toll road.

If I lived in Texas, I'd thank you for being so generous with my money.

First off, I don't think you have a clue as to what road capacity will be needed in the future.

Second, most will be un-willing to pay another buck or two in gas tax

Well, Gov. Goodhair is being to generous with other peoples land to make his nafta highway. A road TX does not need.

The money is going anyway. Why let foreign companies get rich off this?

I'm cautiously optimistic this monstrosity will not happen.

What new taxes, we could afford the improvements that are needed with existing taxes, if the state government spent their money wisely. Now that is a big if.

"Second, most will be un-willing to pay another buck or two in gas tax"

Simple solution: don't build the road.

The opposition to this boondoggle is building by the day.

Hydro...who are you working for, and why can't they afford to write you another script?

On a purely theoretical level, "the money" is going anyway (unless you're part of the NIMBY crowd). The only question (again, in theory), is how much of the money should come out of your pocket.