Citizens Committee: Abolish Trans Texas Corridor Idea

WOAI ^ | November 14, 2008 | Jim Forsyth

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

A citizens committee appointed by the Texas Department of Transportation has issued a series of recommendations on what should be done to deal with increasing congestion on Interstate 35, 1200 WOAI news reports.

The committee said stretches of Interstate 35, which runs from Laredo to Gainesville and is the most heavily traveled Interstate highway in the country, have 'pushed the limit of the road's design capacity.'

Gabby Garcia of TxDOT says the committee reacted strongly against Governor Perry's 'Trans Texas Corridor' toll road plan, saying the TTC 'has come to represent what Texans do not want in transportation project delivery. The TTC lacks public and political support.'

The committee recommended that even the name 'Trans Texas Corridor' be abolished.

The main focus of the committee was to determine how to deal with increasing levels of congestion on 35.

"Looking at expansion where it is appropriate, and using existing right of way where possible," Garcia said.

But beyond that, the committee recommended studying passenger rail along the I-35 corridor, HOV lanes, and even additional toll lanes where necessary, but Garcia said the committee said TxDOT needs to do more to make sure local communities support radical departures like toll roads.

"It has to include the local community, to make sure they are part of the process."

The committee repeatedly took TxDOT to task for not gaining public support when suggesting new toll lanes, or major new toll roads like the TTC.

The committee said any funding allocated to I-35 should stay on I-35 and not be siphoned off to other projects for political purposes. It said more consideration should be given to aesthetics as the highway enters a community.

Due to the existence of frontage roads, with businesses built right on the highway, many motorists say Texas' Interstate highways are the ugliest in the country. In other states, traffic is routed onto side streets and businesses are located there, allowing for landscaping along the expressway.

The committee also recommended the construction of new bridges into Mexico on the south end of I-35 in Laredo, and improved freight rail between Austin and San Antonio.

[erman]

A simple solution to your objection would be to run the rail lines to the major airports, where one can do something radical like “rent a car”.

no, I think that's the smartest solution. It just doesn't "get rid" of traffic in the city. Unless you have the infrastructure to go from point to point then I just don't see the market based solution.

As an example, the Southwest Airlines president stated that he was never competing against other airlines in Texas, he was competing with cars.

The infrastructure is expensive, the unions control the employees and gas is relatively cheap. So unless the convenience of the rail outweighs that of the car, well then you get the Amtrak boondoggle.

[Spktyr]

From my point of view, high speed rail in Texas’ point is not to reduce traffic in the cities themselves but to reduce traffic on the limited highways between cities. And at night, it could be used to ship light freight and mail between Texas cities, a task currently done by tractor trailers.

Also, Texas is union-hostile.

[erman]

I'm sorry but I just don't see the convenience of the rail system.

As an example, I travel 12-13 times per year in order to attend athletic events that may take from 2-4 days. Now with equipment/baggage/nutrition/fluids/computer/and "stuff"... it would be a pain in the neck to load it on a train after taking it to the station. Then load it all back onto a car/truck and then go to the events. It's just more convenient to throw it all in the back of my crew cab truck and go.

Same for hunting trips and trips to South Padre/Corpus Christi/San Antonio. ..... convenience. Now the mail/freight/other deliveries... sure why not rail. But nothing beats the convenience of leaving when I want and just going. Freedom. I'm on my own schedule. Same with busses. I try to get to work 20 minutes early and I don't want to be crammed next to some strangers on my way in that may mug me or just get in my bubble.

That's why I hated living up north. It was a Pain in the a##. I NEVER will live north of the Red River, east of the Sabine, west of the Pecos and south of the Rio Grande. I've been packed in like a sardine in several cities in the northeast, florida, and california. I've found right where I need to be and it isn't in a place that I HAVE to be packed in a wheeled or railed box with strangers everyday.