Posted on 03/28/2008 5:55:47 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
FORT WORTH -- The Trans-Texas Corridor is now so controversial, merely uttering the words in most political circles is taboo.
"We're calling it a 'regional loop' because you can't say 'Trans-Texas Corridor' in the state of Texas anymore," said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
"The Trans-Texas Corridor is a lightning rod," he told visiting state representatives this week while explaining how the corridor would connect to regional highways by 2030.
Opposition to the proposed construction of a $184 billion network of toll roads during the next 50 years is so strong statewide that lawmakers now question whether it's wise for the Texas Transportation Department to continue planning the huge project in its current form.
But transportation officials say they must press on. While opposing views must be respected, the state can't afford to ignore its growing traffic problems, Texas Transportation Commissioner Ned Holmes of Houston said this week.
"Clearly the Trans-Texas Corridor name has developed some controversy in and of itself," Holmes said. "That does not diminish the need for mobility in the state."
In the past two years, the Metroplex region and the Houston region both have created more jobs than any state in the union, he said.
"Texas is unique in its growth patterns. If we don't plan for Texas' growth patterns, we won't have a chance to meet those needs," he said.
Criticisms with merit
Despite Morris' hesitation to mention the Trans-Texas Corridor by name, North Texas leaders generally back the plan. Most are desperate to fix the region's growing traffic problems, clean up the air and keep the economy going in the nation's fourth-largest metropolitan area.
Elsewhere in Texas, common criticisms are that the corridor plan would take too much property out of the hands of private landowners, impose tolls in rural areas where drivers don't want them and turn over control of Texas roads to private, often foreign-owned companies.
"To say that the term Trans-Texas Corridor is tainted is an understatement," said state Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller. "There are some positive components of the Trans-Texas Corridor, but those have been overshadowed by all the negative."
What makes good sense to her would be separating freight truck traffic from passenger traffic and routing it around major metropolitan areas, rather than congesting local streets, she said.
"The plan for marketing the Trans-Texas Corridor and properly seeking public input regarding the plan were flawed and poorly executed," she said. "Rumors about the plan were left unchecked and facts became obliterated by fiction in the minds of many."
Lawmakers may consider passing new laws during the 2009 legislative session to curb the Transportation Department's ability to advance the Trans-Texas Corridor and other privately run toll projects, according to state Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth. One option: a ban on foreign investment in Texas roads.
What's in a name?
Some people who supported building Interstate 69 from Laredo to Houston and east Texas now oppose the plan to build it as a part of the Trans-Texas toll road, Holmes said.
About 14,000 people have submitted comments on the I-69 proposal, state records show.
Thousands of others submitted comments during public meetings in summer 2006 on the first leg of the Trans-Texas Corridor -- a proposed Interstate 35 reliever route from Dallas-Fort Worth to San Antonio. Even so, that project is still under study and could be under construction by 2012, according to a master plan developed by the Spanish firm Cintra.
State officials have even considered that perhaps the name itself has become too symbolic. Without the fancy name, the argument goes, would there be widespread resistance to adding lanes along gridlocked I-35?
"The Trans-Texas Corridor designation has begun to develop a life of its own that has muddled some of that support," Holmes said. "But I believe the support is still out there. We simply need to find a mechanism to tap into that support."
Transportation Commission Chairwoman Hope Andrade of San Antonio added: "Yes, it's a viable project. We're moving forward on it. We have to just be firm and committed to do what we believe is the right thing in preparing our state for the next 25 to 50 years."
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
How about calling it “the Mexican Highway” or “the Spanish Toll-road”? Texans are not as stupid as the dim bulbs at TXDOT wish they were. Every politician who voted for this, Democrat and Republican, ought to be thrown out of office in Nov.
Ya know, we wouldn’t need all these extra roads if about half the drivers were sent back across the border where they belong.
BTTT
They are going to build it no matter what the citizens want. They are required to get citizen input, but they will still go ahead with their plans. TXDOT has alot of power. Even the lawmakers can’t seem to stop them. Scary.
They could continue the propoganda and, romantically, call it the NSA(New San Antonio Road)....Texas history would sell better than globolism.
Maybe that should be New San Antonio Road (NSR)? Have not had my morning coffee.
Get ready for it in spite of your opposition, Texas, since the powers that be want it, it will happen no matter what the people think.
Next step will be a punishment stage...
Thanks for the posts/pings!
I must admit that it is gratifying to see folks picking up on the "cargo-only corridor" design concept that I submitted to TXDOT...
I’m with you!
Ya know, we wouldn’t need all these extra roads if about half the drivers were sent back across the border where they belong.”
Same for more prisons—more classrooms—higher costs of medical care— I could go on and on.
Call it by any name you want- Put lipstick on a pig, and it is still a pig.
No one voted for this, these hyper-globalist just felt they'd just get-r-done, without the support of Texans.
TXDOT, Governor good hair, presidente'Jorge and the fed’s have done their level best to fragment, convolute, deceive, and misinform the public on this project.
It was only when they attempted to join the puzzle pieces of the “multi-legged corridor” that the people recognized what these globalist were attempting to do.
This NETWORK of roads simply advance the agenda of corporate America's plan for cheap labor. Circumventing American truckers, longshoreman, dock workers, security and the like.
By diverting cargo to Mexican ports, loading Mexican trucks to haul into America will not only eliminate American jobs it will endanger our citizens.
It's just a bad idea.
Sham on all of them. I hope Texans stand firmly against this horrendous overstepping of the government on the people of this great state.
So they raided the transportation budget for years, money that should have gone to building roads, and now they say their is a need for roads.
Tell us about Minnesota’s new gas tax!
Without the fancy name, the argument goes, would there be widespread resistance to adding lanes along gridlocked I-35?
I live in Dallas and travel I-35 all the time. It's a busy interstate highway, but it's not gridlocked. Truck drivers who are smart simply don't cut through the city during rush hours. All it takes is a little planning.
“would there be widespread resistance to adding lanes along gridlocked I-35?”
Suppose not, they’ve been doing it for years and still are.
Trans Texas Corridor...Texas Regional loop. yea sorry buck O were not buying that.
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