Big Eminent Domain issue.
We told the Government that the existing highways were good enough and they backed off.
In July of 2005, Governor Perry gave a speech on the merits of private / public partnerships in transportation projects. The discussion revolved around Governor Perry’s Trans-Texas Corridor Program and partnerships with foreign and San-Antonio Construction companies.
Opposition to the plan was based on a large array of concerns. These included:
•Cost - the program was estimated in 2002 to cost between US $145.2 Billion to $183.5 Billion
•Eminent Domain / Property Rights - the plan required about 584,000 acres to be purchased or acquired
•Environmental - the corridors are very wide and may disrupt wildlife
•Noise - estimates were that land around the corridor would be unusable within 1 mile
•Security - some believed that the system would be linked to a super-highway between the US and Mexico
The plan faced stiff opposition from the beginning and by 2006, the official position of both Republican and Democratic politicians was to oppose the plan. In 2006 Cintra_Zachry announced that the best course of action may be the “no-build” course. By January of 2009, Governor Perry was referring to the plan as “dead” in his official blog. However, when asked about the plan only days later while on a trip to Iraq, Governor Perry stated that the name was killed, but highway construction continued.
The name ‘Trans Texas Corridor’ is over with. We’re going to continue to builds in the state of Texas. Our options are fairly limited, due to Washington’s ineffectiveness from the standpoint of being able to deliver dollars, or for the Legislature to raise the gas tax.
Yep, that’s how I remember it.
It is one thing I did not like about Perry, but I thought he was a good Governor, overall.
He was on the wrong side of this issue, that’s for sure.