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Posted on 09/18/2006 10:56:32 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
A Wise County portion of the planned outer loop for the Metroplex may not be in the initial construction phase.
Jeffrey Neal, principal transportation planner for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said funding could be shifted to another project that would at least temporarily keep the loop from passing through Wise County. He made his presentation at Wednesday’s Northwest Communities Partnership meeting at Northwest ISD.
The alternative assumes that the planned “outer loop” proposed to encircle the Metroplex will be used in designs for the Trans-Texas Corridor. The outer loop was not included in the original plans for the corridor, but Texas transportation officials said last month that the route could change after Metroplex officials complained that the corridor would bypass the most populated urban areas, particularly if the route was built only east of Dallas.
“We would like the entire region to benefit,” Neal said of the outer loop proposal.
The outer loop, as originally planned, would have passed through portions of southern and eastern Wise County.
But Neal said that NCTCOG is recommending that the outer loop project be modified in order to incorporate two other projects: the widening of Interstate 35 West and the extension of Texas 170.
“If we could incorporate those plans into the Trans-Texas Corridor, those funds could be used for improvements of Texas 170 and Interstate 35,” Neal said.
The recommendation would be for the outer loop to take a sharp turn north of Azle and head east until it connects with Interstate 35 West before heading north toward Denton.
Neal called the plan a “short-term” solution to congestion problems in the area, and the Wise County portion of the outer loop would be studied for the future.
“We would like to work with Wise County officials to outline the corridor area in that county,” he said, adding that when traffic warrants the construction of the loop, plans will already be in place.
When the outer loop design was being studied, Neal said, the Wise County portion of the loop was projected to receive the lightest amount of traffic. That meant the Wise County portion was not under study, Neal said. However, at a Regional Transportation Council meeting Thursday, the group voted to include the Wise County portion in its overall study.
Rhome Mayor Mark Lorance said he supported the idea of an outer loop running through Wise County.
“The outer loop will be a tremendous economic generator for Wise County as well as the other counties it’s going through,” he said.
Later Wednesday, at a meeting of the I-35W Coalition, it appeared that officials had not heard of Neal’s proposal. North Richland Hills Mayor Oscar Trevino, who is president of the North Central Texas Council of Governments board, did not mention the I-35W-170 connection and said the Regional Transportation Council would press TxDot to fund environmental studies for the original outer loop plan this fall.
The outer loop, which Trevino identified as “Loop 9” may bypass Tarrant County entirely, he told the coalition members. “It may be in Parker, Johnson and Wise counties,” he said.
He said another group, the Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition, of which he is chairman, has been formed to have influence on transportation issues before the Regional Transportation Council at the Council of Governments. Wise County is part of that coalition. The Dallas area has had such a lobbying group for several years, he said. “One of these days, the Fort Worth region will be bigger than the Dallas region,” he said.
Trevino was highly critical of a series of meetings held by TxDot on the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor. “They were a travesty,” he said of the meetings. “At the meeting in Wise County they talked about the danger of hauling Mexicans up the highway from Mexico.”
Mike Berry, president of Hillwood Corporation, told the group that it had already succeeded in rallying attention to problems along I-35W from I-820 in Fort Worth to Texas 114 in Denton County. “The project has already been moved from 2015 to 2008 and that is probably the most important accomplishment, and we need to make sure it gets funded and gets built,” Berry said.
But, Berry said, the financial support of coalition members was critical. “We’ve got to have your financial support to maintain our visibility,” he said.
Fort Worth auto dealer Mac Churchill, chairman of the 35W coalition, also talked about the importance of the improvement project. “This is a major project that affects hundreds of thousands of people along I-35W,” he said.
Coalition members were also told about the proposed design standards to control signs, building set-backs and landscaping along the I-35W corridor. The guidelines, developed after meetings with property owners along the highway, will be presented to the Fort Worth City Council this fall.
Russell Laughlin, Hillwood vice president, said it is important to know the “pressure points” to get transportation projects funded. “There has been a decade of wrangling over transportation dollars,” he said.
“Anyway you cut it, it’s always about dollars and it’s always been about dollars,” Laughlin said.
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
BTTT
So, when Northeast San Antonio balked, they decided to start north and work their way down? This is one time the votes meant nothing. They heard and ignored. They want their freaking toll roads and they mean to have them at all costs [to us.]
bump.
As in Hillwood Developement. As in Ross Perot. As in Alliance Freight Airport. As in the Alliance Texas Inland Port.
Don't say anything about this to Corsi.
Below is a list of our current North America Inland Ports Network participants.
The list will grow as NAIPN grows so check back often to see new members.
Speaking of sensationalism, This little nugget is circulating on the internet and it won't be long before it shows up on WND and FR. It even revisits the old story about the Chicoms invading Texas.
Remember, you heard it here first.
Thanks for the ping!
You're welcome.
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