Free Republic

Speed bumps With opponents turning up the heat, Trans-Texas Corridor planners need to fill in many blanks as the colossal project nears liftoff. Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle WHEN first announced, Gov. Rick Perry's $175 billion, 4,000-mile transitway proposal seemed more visionary than practicable. Now that the project is on the verge of transforming itself from political rhetoric to concrete reality, opposition from a nonpartisan range of interests has taken on a sudden urgency. The opponents are discovering just how much they don't know about the biggest transit project to hit Texas since the creation of the interstate highway system. The...

Ever wanted to own a toll road? How about one with 85 mile-per-hour speed limits alongside a congested interstate -- one where you had exclusive rights to sell food, gas and lodging? You can buy all that and more if you've got a few billion dollars and can convince the Texas Transportation Commission to let you build the Trans-Texas Corridor. In 2002, Governor Rick Perry campaigned on a promise of a privately financed and operated toll road system -- 4,000 miles to be built over the next 50 years. The cost is estimated at $180 billion. Few within the transportation...