Free Republic

Waco - Governor Rick Perry should sign a bill that would establish a two-year moratorium on the controversial Trans Texas Corridor (TTC), according to the board of directors of the state's largest farm organization. A letter requesting the governor's approval of House Bill 1892, signed by the 14 members of the Texas Farm Bureau board, including TFB President Kenneth Dierschke, urges a moratorium on the use of private equity comprehensive development agreements, including the TTC. The letter was delivered to Governor Perry today. It said in part, "We believe the moratorium envisioned in HB 1892 will give all Texans the...

A new study throws cold water on a long-cherished claim of toll road advocates, surprising some of them, and could redefine a debate over if and how Texas should toll its highways. For more than a year now, state officials have scared the dickens out of motorists by saying the gas tax would have to go up $1.20 a gallon to build all the roads needed statewide over the next quarter-century. That would almost triple the 38.4 cents drivers now pay in federal and state fuel taxes. Since that's politically impossible to do, the argument goes, toll roads should be...

In the next few decades, the ever-growing Dallas-Fort Worth area could experience striking changes in the way that people and goods move. North Central Texas' population has been ballooning faster than the transportation infrastructure -- a situation akin to that of a growing middle-schooler whose old jeans don't quite fit anymore. With the Metroplex expected to add about 4 million people by 2030, it's hard to imagine the hellish traffic jams that we'll face in the future unless we take giant steps to reverse course. New transportation projects and strategies are being hashed out now that might someday save us...