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Lawmaker Files Bill To Kill Trans-Texas Corridor Project
KWTX-TV ^ | January 26, 2007 | KWTX-TV

Posted on 01/28/2007 8:59:26 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

(January 26, 2007)--A legislator from San Antonio has filed a bill to kill GOP Gov. Rick Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor toll road proposal.

Democratic Representative David Liebowitz says his measure would take away the Texas Department of Transportation's authority to buy land and do contracts for the project.

Click Here For More Information

Liebowitz told WOAI radio that the Trans-Texas Corridor would "destroy rural Texas as we know it."

Perry's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Joe Krier with Texans for Safe Reliable Transportation believes the Liebowitz bill, which was filed Thursday, is a mistake.

Krier says the project will make Texas globally competitive in this century and into the next one.

Perry 2002 proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor in 2002.

The $184 billion plan ultimately calls for a 4,000-mile network of transportation corridors that would crisscross the state with separate highway lanes for passenger vehicles and trucks, passenger rail, freight rain, commuter rail and dedicated utility zones.

Work on the Central Texas portion of the ambitious project could begin within four years, the Texas Department of Transportation said last fall as it released a plan identifying near- mid- and long-term phases of the privately developed toll road.

Click Here For The Complete Plan

The plan identifies portions of the corridor from north of Temple to near Hillsboro and from Georgetown to Temple as among the likely near-term phases of the project, on which work could begin by 2010 and could be completed by 2013.

The Temple-to-Hillsboro leg of the corridor would cost an estimated $1.1 billion to design and build. The Georgetown-to-Temple leg would cost about $1 billion to design and build.

Tolls would range from about 15 cents a mile for cars to as much as 48 cents a mile for big trucks, which means the cost of a trip along the full length of the 370-mile toll road could cost from $56 to more than $216.

The Texas Department of Transportation signed a contract in April 2005 with the Cintra-Zachry consortium for planning on the project, the most ambitious highway construction effort since the Eisenhower administration launched the effort to build an interstate highway system.

Designers envision a corridor with six separate passenger vehicle lanes and four commercial truck lanes; two high speed passenger rail lines, two freight rain lines and two commuter rail lines and a utility zone that will accommodate water, electric, natural gas, petroleum, fiber optic and telecommunications lines.

Cintra, which is an international design and development firm, and the San Antonio-based Zachry Construction Corporation, originally agreed to provide more than $7 billion for construction of the first segments of the project, which is now expected to cost nearly $2 billion more to construct.

Cintra originally planned to spend at least $6 billion to build the four-lane toll road on the corridor and planned to pay the state $1.2 billion in return for the exclusive rights to operate the toll road for 50 years.

Click Here For Interactive Map Of Proposed Corridor Route

Click Here For Trans-Texas Corridor Web Site

Click Here For Background Information On The Trans-Texas Corridor

Click Here For An Opposing Point Of View From Corridor Watch

Click Here For Blackland Coalition Web Site


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: blacklandcoalition; cda; cintra; cintrazachry; corridorwatch; cuespookymusic; davidliebowitz; hb857; keeptexasmoving; kookmagnetthread; masterplan; morethorazineplease; p3; ppp; rickperry; ruraltexas; texas; tolls; transtexascorridor; transtinfoilcorridor; ttc; ttc35; tx; txdot; zachry
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There are also some Texas State Capitol links and contact info for some state senators and representatives in the original article.
1 posted on 01/28/2007 8:59:28 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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To: TxDOT; 1066AD; 185JHP; Abcdefg; Adrastus; Alamo-Girl; antivenom; AprilfromTexas; B4Ranch; B-Chan; ..

Trans-Texas Corridor PING!


2 posted on 01/28/2007 9:00:18 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (“Don’t overestimate the decency of the human race.” —H. L. Mencken)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks; Diddle E. Squat; deport; maui_hawaii; Ben Ficklin; zeugma; MeekOneGOP; ...
Anyone want to take bets that this bill never gets to the floor of either the House or Senate?
Pro TTC Ping!

This is a pro Trans-Texas Corridor ping list.

Please let me know by Freepmail if you want on or off the list.


3 posted on 01/28/2007 9:02:56 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Artist's concept of corridor:


4 posted on 01/28/2007 9:03:23 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (“Don’t overestimate the decency of the human race.” —H. L. Mencken)
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To: Paleo Conservative

Anyone want to take bets that this bill never gets to the floor of either the House or Senate?



I know that the Senate needs a 2/3ds vote of the senate to bring a bill up but not sure how it operates in the house or how a house bill is treated if passed and sent to the senate.

Lots of bills get introduced many of which die by never getting a hearing in committee. I note that so far this bill has no co-sponsors.


5 posted on 01/28/2007 9:11:05 PM PST by deport
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To: Paleo Conservative
Tolls would range from about 15 cents a mile for cars to as much as 48 cents a mile for big trucks, which means the cost of a trip along the full length of the 370-mile toll road could cost from $56 to more than $216.

Tolls have a habit of rising. Law enforcement knows how to force trucks onto toll roads.
6 posted on 01/28/2007 9:13:06 PM PST by gas0linealley
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Just wondering,does this highway happen to south by any chance ???


7 posted on 01/28/2007 9:15:13 PM PST by Obie Wan
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

What is the problem with the Trans-Texas Corridor>


8 posted on 01/28/2007 9:15:24 PM PST by neverhillorat (IF THE RATS WIN, WE ALL LOSE)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

strayhorn would have been a better governor than perry because she understands the fraud that cintra/zachry are perpetuating.


9 posted on 01/28/2007 9:15:58 PM PST by ken21 (it takes a village to brainwash your child + to steal your property! /s)
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To: gas0linealley

Tolls would range from about 15 cents a mile for cars to as much as 48 cents a mile for big trucks, which means the cost of a trip along the full length of the 370-mile toll road could cost from $56 to more than $216.



Yep and articles have a problem of stating correct info...

Note: 15 - 48 cents/mi ... = $56 to $216+ trip fee, 370 mi

370 * $0.48 = $177.60


10 posted on 01/28/2007 9:20:17 PM PST by deport
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To: neverhillorat

What is the problem with the Trans-Texas Corridor>



It's not built and operational at this time......


11 posted on 01/28/2007 9:21:34 PM PST by deport
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To: gas0linealley
Law enforcement knows how to force trucks onto toll roads.

And this is something any good democrat would support.

12 posted on 01/28/2007 9:22:16 PM PST by org.whodat (Never let the facts get in the way of a good assumption.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Artist's concept of The middle Eastern Oil Countries corridor:
13 posted on 01/28/2007 9:25:24 PM PST by org.whodat (Never let the facts get in the way of a good assumption.)
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To: org.whodat

The cronies, Dem. or Repub., of the toll road operators, will work to maximize their return.


14 posted on 01/28/2007 9:27:10 PM PST by gas0linealley
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To: gas0linealley
The cronies, Dem. or Repub., of the toll road operators, will work to maximize their return.

Correction

The bought and paid for DEM and REpub's will work to maximize their bosses profits, at the expense of the average Joe.

Hope they took note of the number of republican's voted out of office in Indiana.

15 posted on 01/28/2007 9:34:40 PM PST by org.whodat (Never let the facts get in the way of a good assumption.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Liebowitz told WOAI radio that the Trans-Texas Corridor would "destroy rural Texas as we know it."

LOL! Destroy rural Texas just like all the interstates have. From thirty thousand feet, I10, I20, I35, & I45 look like a thread in a vast undeveloped wasteland between the large cities. I am all for the Trans-Texas Corridor.

16 posted on 01/28/2007 10:44:01 PM PST by BaylorDad (90% of my news comes from Free Republic. My local news even exaggerates the weather.)
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To: Obie Wan
The TTC does go south; it also goes north.
17 posted on 01/29/2007 12:41:23 AM PST by Jedi Master Pikachu ( WND, NewsMax, Townhall.com, Brietbart.com, and Drudge Report are not valid news sources.)
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To: neverhillorat
Some are of the opinion that it is a step closer to a North American Union.

Just have a United States stretching from the Yucatan peninsula to the Queen Elizabeth Islands. flame suit.

18 posted on 01/29/2007 12:44:50 AM PST by Jedi Master Pikachu ( WND, NewsMax, Townhall.com, Brietbart.com, and Drudge Report are not valid news sources.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

BTTT


19 posted on 01/29/2007 2:56:00 AM PST by E.G.C.
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To: weegee

might be worth a Houston ping


20 posted on 01/29/2007 4:16:00 AM PST by Jalapeno
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