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By Stephen Palkot
Monday, February 20, 2006 12:29 PM CST
A major step in the development of the I-69 corridor is scheduled for Thursday.
The Texas Transportation Commission this week will vote on whether to begin finding a contractor for the entire road through Texas. If the vote goes through on Thursday, TxDOT will seek requests for proposals from companies looking to build and maintain the road.
The highway would run about 600 miles and is expected to cost several billion dollars. The latest plan on I-69 calls for a contractor to not only build the road, but also to finance the construction and maintenance of the road.
The contractor would be allowed to charge tolls along the road and collect from those to make a profit.
County Judge Bob Hebert said he does not have ample information to support the idea of a tolled I-69. He points out that I-35, which runs roughly parallel to the proposed I-69, could also be a toll road.
"The question I asked them was, 'Has anybody done an economic analysis to determine the dynamics of building one major toll road from Mexico to the Texas border and then building another toll road from Mexico to the Texas border?' he said.
Also, Hebert said a private company building a massive highway and looking to collect tolls would have an incentive to lobby the Legislature to "not allow competition to exist."
"I think they need to have a thorough analysis of the 35 project and the 69 project and their impact on one-another," he said.
The interstate has been proposed as a single highway to connect Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. Local officials for years have been discussing the idea of converting U.S. 59 into I-69, through upgrades of the road.
According to TxDOT, the agency would undertake a two-step, 15-month process to select a contractor for the highway.
Meanwhile, studies continue into the development of the Trans Texas Corridor. The TTC has been proposed as a large, multi-modal transportation corridor throughout Texas, and TxDOT officials are looking to make I-69 a portion of the TTC.
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
I know that trying to get from North Loop 820 to downtown Fort Worth during daylight hours sucks. It sucks real hard.
Yeah, we really needed a freakin train to gobble up tax money and compete with AmTrack as the biggest boon doggle around. Thank God we do not have the train or Richards.
As a supporter of TTC (and TTC-35 in particular), I'm eager to see which alignment is going to be picked, and where the interface with the Fort Worth area is going to be. If it were up to me, the TTC interface would be located near Midlothian at the junction of SH 360 at US 287. One of the area's largest railheads is there, making it a natural for intermodal freight transshipment, plus locating it there would give DART/The T/NCTCOG all the incentive required to build a much-needed north-south commuter rail line between the interface and the proposed TRE station at Bird's Fort in Arlington. Finally, the site is midway between Dallas and Fort worth and is already connected to both via existing controlled-access highways.
Note: I do not own any land or other property around the area in question. I'm just a regular public transport passenger interested in seeing the TTC link to the extant Metro DFW transit system in the smoothest and most beneficial way possible.
When I can, I avoid 35 and instead head north on Preston (aka 289) then swing west on 380 - is a little out of the way (basically heading north to go south), but sure as heck beats the parking lot that's I-35.
That's my soapbox rant... please drive through.
Like many of you, I've lost count of the number of traffic nightmares we've faced on this dismal highway. All I can say is make sure you track an alternate route before going anywhere on I-35.
We made one trip from Fort Worth to San Antonio where my husband had to pull over and let me drive. His blood pressure was going through the roof because he was so frustrated with the traffic. I can't imagine what this mess will be like in another five years.
Ugh...Please, let me pay a toll for a decent road!
They need one designated lane for drug traffic, and two for illegal workers.
I35 does get crowded up here in MN too.
BTW, I own 35E.
What I love is for all the other problems the road has, come Texas-OU weekend there won't be any construction. I heard that the construction company working on it outside Thackerville would be paying a serious hourly fine if they didn't have it opened up for the weekend.
This is a pro Trans-Texas Corridor ping list.
Please let me know by Freepmail if you want on or off the list.
Madness. Absolute madness.
If we need more ways to push trucks through the state for NAFTA, why on earth are they planning to concentrate the new traffic along the already-crowded routes? Adding capacity to the I-35 corridor is a horrible idea, both environmentally (cough, cough) and traffic-wise.
Look at the dying towns in West Texas that would love to have the economic boon new roads might bring -- and then look at the plans to make the mega tollroad closed to the communities it bypasses.
None of this makes sense, except apparently to those into whose hands the cash will flow . . .
Then tell me WHY IN THE WORLD the wonderful Turkey Shop cafeteria in Abbott had to close, after nearly 30 years of being the very best of the roadside eateries anyone could want? Tell me WHY! It doesn't make sense!
And they also want to run up 281 and ruin Blanco? And Dripping Springs - and then Wimberley will be next, then Luckenbach. They'll probably put up a wall along the ridge on Devil's Backbone and make you pay to stop at a lookout tower to see the Blanco River Valley! This is horrible!
Couldn't Austin declare itself "null and void" and make Marfa the new Capital of the Great State of Texas?
bttt