ISSUES IN DEPTH:Trans-Texas Corridor master development plan made public

East Texas Review ^ | October 4, 2006 | William Lutz / LSR

[Diddle E. Squat]

85 mph speed limit, except close in to Austin and DFW. I'm not sure why you think most people will have to drive 30 miles east to use it, since a simple glance at the maps on the Trans-Texas corridor website will show it to be only about 10 miles east of I-35 (in between them north of Hillsboro) for most of the way, with numerous connecting roads at angles that makes the trip only slightly longer. Running south from Mansfield puts it in the middle of DFW, will be just a few miles east of Waco, Temple, Georgetown, Round Rock, Bergstrom Airport, west of Manor and Lockhart, with numerous connecting roads being widened to 4-lanes (that will also save time.) Plus most of the toll revenue will come from trucks, and there are numerous ways to provide incentives for trucking lines to use it.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

In order to permit 100mph speeds like the autobahn, the highway would have to be engineered for such speeds. That will cost more. Also, maintenance on the highway will need to be exemplary. If you hit a pothole at 100 you are toast.
I doubt if those speeds will be permitted. Truck traffic might like the route to avoid congested cities.

[wolfcreek]

So are you saying toll road dirt is different?


YES! The new tollroad within a quarter mile of my house, is being cut through land, some of which, hasn't been disturbed for centuries, if ever. I don't know where you live in Texas but, in my area, there has never been so much excavation and construction. Along with lines of trucks hauling dirt and rock that hasn't ever been disturbed, everywhere I travel is through clouds of dust.



You can try and exaggerate my opinions to suit your own needs but, people who really care about the state of Texas, will see through your hypocrisy.

[wolfcreek]

Do you actually think that the environmental permitting process in the US/Texas is inadequate?


They're adequate up to the point where development dollars override environmental concerns. Take SOS (Save Our Springs)as an example. They were the supposed Godsend for people who wanted to try a save a little piece of Texas from an overwhelming desire to develop a fragile area. They finally SOLDOUT! IMO, anyone who is in favor of 4000 additional miles of roads is just that, A SELLOUT! BTW; my Wife and several friends have worked for environmental testing labs. The *diddly squat* I do know is, they are a manipulated farce.

[hopespringseternal]

Beltway 8

Beltway 8 is only packed because of all the accidents at the toll booths. If they were packed, there wouldn't be much point to the toll, one of its main purposes is to keep people off the road to ease congestion.

[Wallace T.]

In North Texas, the Dallas-Fort Worth area will be the main generator of intrastate travel, both passenger and truck. The current preferred route will run through Rockwall and eastern Collin Counties, still predominantly rural areas. A "corridor alternative" runs through eastern Parker, Wise, and western Denton Counties. It is hard to see what would motivate a traveller or a truck driver in Plano, Mesquite, or the west side of Fort Worth, relatively close to the TTC's path, not to use toll-free I-35 to drive to Waco and points south. Especially with truckers, where profit margins are thin, the toll from DFW to Austin, a multiple of the estimated $12.50 passenger vehicle toll to the state capital, would cut into profit margins. If you could drive from DFW to Austin in two hours on the TTC as opposed to three to five hours on I-35, it might be worth the expense. However, as you point out, maintenance would have to be exemplary to allow for 100 mph speeds. Design standards would have to be well above Interstate standards, which are usually set at 70-80 mph. Liberals, insurance companies, and Southwest Airlines would fight any legislation to permit autobahn style speeds on the TTC.

Additionally, while the route in Central Texas is not too far from the existing I-35, the growth in Austin and San Antonio has been to the west for several decades. For Austin and San Antonio residents to access the TTC, they would have to travel crosstown through urban traffic and pass over I-35 on their way to the TTC. Furthermore, there is no east west freeway through central Austin.

If Cintra wants to build a tollway, that is fine. However, they should not spend a dime of taxpayers' money and not rely on eminent domain.

[Ben Ficklin]

We can all read between the lines and we all know that you are a NIMBY.

[wolfcreek]

We can all read between the lines and we all know that you are a NIMBY.



Who's *We*, Ben? You can't stand on your own merits so, you formed a gang? That's pretty cowardly! Why don't you just say what you mean instead of name-calling and innuendo.

[Ben Ficklin]

By reading between the lines, we'all think you are a yankee, also.

[wolfcreek]

By reading between the lines, we'all think you are a yankee, also.


You just proved my point, Ben. A Six generation Texan won't stoop to your (or your gang's) childish level.

[Ben Ficklin]

That's what they all say, anonymously.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

$12.50 per 100 mile stretch. Plus gas. Plus car ins./car payments.

It may be cheaper to fly.

That may be so, but Cintra-Zachry won't make you wait in a two-hour line just to strip half-nekkid to ensure you don't have a bomb on you.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

80 MPH is the proposed speed for the TTC.... not sure under what laws, etc.

I've read articles claiming the top speed limit on the new highway will be 85.

[Ben Ficklin]

Of course, when you cross the line and make physical threats, as you have done via freep mail, that anonymity could disappear.

[deport]

Yep, that is correct as pointed out by Diddle. So maybe 90 is the going rate if they give 5 over.

[wolfcreek]

I would like to post the FReepmail message I sent to another FReeper, earlier.


You call me a 'yankee' to my face and I'd probably punch you in your $%#@ mouth. Lay off the name-calling and be civilized. There's no need for that on this board. If you don't have something civil say, don't say anything to me. PS: I'll do the same!



There was a *choice* word before mouth but, calling a Texan a *yankee*, as most real Texans know, is the worst insult that can be applied.



If there is some *anonymous group* on this board that has a problem with my opinions, such as on this thread, then please construct your responses in a way that does not include name-calling or snide innuendo. I felt I was baited into saying the things I said in the FReepmail and I am ashamed I fell for it.

[Ben Ficklin]

Obviously, you need to bring JR in on it.