Posted on 01/30/2008 3:09:13 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Some Texans are afraid of losing their land to the Trans-Texas Corridor while others loathe the thought of a quarter-mile-wide swath of toll roads and railway lines transforming the countryside into a superhighway.
People continue to turn out in droves at public meetings concerning the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor proposal, specifically the portion known as the TTC-69 proposed from Brownsville to Texarkana.
A meeting Monday, Jan. 28, at the fairgrounds in Austin County was no exception, drawing more than 1,000 people.
Opposition to the proposed corridor has come from people in all walks of life, said Chris Steinbach, chief of staff for Texas Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, a Trans-Texas Corridor opponent.
“It’s an interesting mix of Texas citizens,” Steinbach told Land Line.
He said the more “left-leaning people” are expressing concerns about free trade and America’s rights.
“Then you’ve got the very rural, agriculture-based people who have earned a living for generations on the land, and they see it as a huge issue and a land grab,” Steinbach said.
Rural citizens are concerned about the limited access such a high-tech corridor would offer.
“The turnpike concept is foreign to most Texans,” Steinbach said. “Overwhelmingly, to a staggering degree, the reaction is negative against it.”
Steinbach does give the Texas Department of Transportation credit for hosting 12 “town hall” meetings like the one in Austin County, leading up to the 46 public hearings scheduled to begin Feb. 21.
“To their credit, they’ve taken it on the road to get a temperature check,” Steinbach said.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor in 2003.
Along with the governor-appointed Texas Transportation Commission, TxDOT is in charge of bringing the proposals into environmental compliance and putting contracts out for bid.
The first corridor phase, known as TTC-35, would parallel Interstate 35 and will most likely be built by Cintra-Zachry, a consortium made up of the Spanish firm Cintra Concessiones De Infraestructuras De Transporte and Austin-based Zachry Construction Corp.
Steinbach said the mere mention of private investors operating the roadway is enough to throw Texans for a loop, and their reaction magnifies when it’s a foreign-based investor.
“If you allow a private vendor to operate the facility, you allow one person to profit from the taking of someone’s land,” Steinbach said. “The idea that foreign companies and foreign nations would invest in this is not acceptable to Texans.”
On the issue of right of way, TXDOT officials said in December 2007 that planners would try to incorporate existing routes into the TTC-69 plan, including portions of U.S. 59.
But that might lead to tolls on roadways that are currently toll free.
“Everyone loses,” Steinbach said. “The truck drivers are going to be paying a toll to use a roadway that the rural people don’t want anyway.”
TXDOT has four more “town hall” meetings prior to the official public hearings.
Click here for the full list of meetings.
Meetings only first phase of TTC process
In other business Tuesday, the [Corpus Christi] City Council...
...- Approved a resolution in support of the I-69 trans-Texas corridor plan as it relates to projects that impact Corpus Christi directly. Those are upgrading U.S. Highway 77 to interstate standards through the Lower Rio Grande Valley, providing freight connection to the Port of Laredo and providing freight and rail connections to Fort Hood...
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
Government has overwhelmingly shown us that it doesn’t matter what we want, they’re going to go right ahead and do what they damn well please.
This is why we Texans have guns - so that we can convince the politicians that they might want to re-think issues like the TTC.
Over 200 years ago, our ancestots had their fill of British abuse and tyranny and took matters into their own hands. Are we too afraid to walk a mile in their moccasins to restore control of the government to "We the people . . . "? Gov. Goodhair isn't going to hear us until we put some "oomph" behind our "no's". And, a .45 has a lot of "oomph" - even for someone as egotistical, vain and selectively deaf as Gov. Goodhair.
I just wonder what the final $$$$$ payoff from the Saudis will be, Judy the form drag star Queen from NY is in on this whole rotten deal as well.
“If you allow a private vendor to operate the facility, you allow one person to profit from the taking of someone’s land,” Steinbach said. “The idea that foreign companies and foreign nations would invest in this is not acceptable to Texans.”
Ever wonder why the Supreme’s ruled the way they did in the Kelo Decision?
Thank God Texans are opposed to this. If they did a bit more background into the whole issue, they would take up arms against letting this happen. Give them hell Texas, you're in a position to make a big ruckus regarding this "Corridor From Hell".
BTTT
Ping
“He said the more “left-leaning people” are expressing concerns about free trade and America’s rights.”
*Left Leaning*......WTF?
This project will probably die when Perry leaves office. It is insane.
Could GW Bush return to Texas to be Governor?
That’s a scary thought.
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