FROM GREENVILLE TEXAS NEWSPAPER: Corridor needs closer look Published: July 23, 2006 Herald-Banner Staff You can’t fault Gov. Rick Perry for wanting to solve Texas’ transportation woes. The state is facing a double-barreled problem of increasing traffic congestion and decreasing funds available for highway construction, leaving him with an issue that can’t be resolved with press releases and pithy sound bytes. But the plan he is pushing for — a mega-highway system called the Trans Texas Corridor that would cut through Hunt County — deserves a closer look before it’s given a stamp of approval. The Corridor’s mission is noble enough, as it is designed to solve both problems through a public/private partnership that would be funded by tolls rather than the state’s tax funds. It is intended to relieve traffic on the overburdened interstate highway system that’s getting more clogged with each passing year. However, the closer you look at this project the more it becomes apparent that it lacks a fully thought-out plan and places the financial well-being of developers over efficient transportation for the public. One of the greatest weaknesses of the Corridor is that is doesn’t directly link any major metropolitan areas. It is specifically designed to bypass the big cities to avoid high land acquisition costs, but it’s the big cities that create much of the traffic that the Corridor seeks to eliminate. Creating a huge road that only directly connects rural areas is just plain silly, as the straightest, shortest route from city to city will still be the existing interstate system. Even worse, the Corridor will take land from local owners and local tax rolls — including here in Hunt County — and turn it over to state-sanctioned concessionaires who will compete with local businesses. The Texas Department of Transportation has been granted the authority to buy and lease land for gas stations, stores, hotels, garages, restaurants and other commercial purposes, but these state-sanctioned businesses in most cases will not be taxed by any city jurisdiction. Also, unlike the interstate system, the Corridor will be a limited-access road with very few exits and no frontage roads. As a result, it’s not likely to improve nearby property values because that property will have no access to the highway. It could actually decrease property values as it brings extra noise and makes travel on smaller country roads more difficult where it cuts across rural areas like a 21st century Berlin Wall. The proposed financing and construction of the corridor raises additional questions, including why the state’s private business partners will be allowed to line their pockets with a profit when Texans already pay for roads through numerous taxes and fees. The toll system may be perfectly legal, but it smacks of special-interest politics that will make some business owners very wealthy at the expense of ordinary taxpayers. We hope state leaders were listening when local residents strongly opposed the Corridor at a meeting in Greenville last week. Texas needs better transportation infrastructure, but the proposed Corridor appears to have plenty of room for improvement.
Public/private partnerships are not noble, they are fascistic. They give the government too much power in private business, and they unfairly advantage certain businesses, most likely through campaign contributions, graft and perks to the elected and appointed officials.
"You can’t fault Gov. Rick Perry for wanting to solve Texas’ transportation woes." |