Free Republic

As the proposed implementation of a pilot cross-border trucking program draws near, another international trade corridor project is drawing heat from local residents in Texas. The March 18 New York Times reported on the reactions of residents of the West Texas towns of Marfa and Alpine to a hearing held by the Texas Department of Transportation on the development of an official trade corridor, La Entrada al Pacifico, or “Gateway to the Pacific.” It would link the port of Topolobampo in Mexico’s Sinaloa state through Chihuahua to the U.S. market, via the border crossing at Presidio, Texas, and the oil...

Citizens turn out to protest 'La Entrada'Of the estimated 350 people who attended the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) La Entrada al Pacifico Trade Corridor Feasibility Study public meeting in Alpine on Tuesday, not one was in favor of passage through the Big Bend region. Although TxDOT engineer Peggy Thurin, who is overseeing the study, said "This [project] is not a done deal," and that alternatives, including rail, other routes or doing nothing were being considered, the crowd made it clear they did not want a truck route under any circumstances. Local resident Bob Schwab stood up before any public...

The Texas Department of Transportation will spend more than $1 million to see if the La Entrada al Pacifico trade route can be designed to include all the features of the Trans-Texas Corridor, department officials say. La Entrada was envisioned as an overland trade route connecting the United States to Far East markets via West Texas and Northern Mexico. Its design is being revisited in light of the proposed $175 billion Trans-Texas Corridor, a megahighway paralleling Interstate 35 in Central Texas. La Entrada runs from Lamesa to Odessa-Midland along state Highway 349, then west on Interstate Highway 20 to U.S....