TTC-35 PUBLIC HEARINGS CONTINUE NEXT MONDAY

Overflow crowds are attending TTC-35 hearings!!!! Overwhelming opposition is showing up and speaking. Last Monday in WACO 1,000 - - Wednesday in TEMPLE 1,500

David Stall will attend the public hearing tonight in Dallas where he will speak and file ten-pages of formal written Tier One TTC-35 DEIS comments on behalf of the more than 5,000 members of CorridorWatch.org.

A public hearing guide is available on the homepage of CorridorWatch.org. Please take a few minutes to read about the process.

This is the time for Texans and all CorridorWatch members to do something that will have an impact.

Jul 31 – Beeville, Community Center, 111 E. Corpus Christi
Jul 31 – Flatonia, ISD Cafeteria, 400 E. 4th St.
Jul 31 – Lockhart, High School Cafeteria, #1 Lion Country Dr.
Aug 1 – Gonzales, High School Cafeteria, 1801 Sarah DeWitt Dr.
Aug 1 – Kingsville, King Ranch Museum, 405 N. 6th St.
Aug 1 – Manor, High School Cafeteria, 12700 Gregg Manor Rd.
Aug 2 – Bastrop, Middle School Cafeteria, 709 Old Austin Hwy.
Aug 2 – Calallen, High School Cafeteria, 4001 Wildcat Dr.
Aug 2 – Pleasanton, High School Cafeteria, 1100 W. Adams St.
Aug 3 – Floresville, High School Gym, 1832 Highway 97 East
Aug 3 – Smithville, High School Cafeteria, 285 Highway 95

Each meeting begins with a period of open house visiting from 5:00pm to 6:30pm. At 6:30pm there will be a TxDOT presentation (including a short video) that should conclude by 7:00pm. After a 15 minute break you and fellow Texans will be given the microphone to make your comments.

Travel is expensive, but we believe that it is very important for CorridorWatch.org to be represented at as many public hearings as possible. Everyone involved with CorridorWatch.org, including David and Linda Stall, are unpaid volunteers. As you know there are no membership fees or due charged by CorridorWatch.org. Your financial assistance during these hearing would be greatly appreciated.

In addition to travel we print and distribute materials at every meeting and hearing. Our cost is about 30-cents per attendee. That may not sound like much, but it sure adds up in a hurry.

Please visit our homepage and click on DONATE or visit: http://www.corridorwatch.org/ttc/cw-donate.htm

CorridorWatch.org, Inc.
Fayetteville, TX 78940-5468
"Challenging the Wisdom of the Trans-Texas Corridor"

CorridorWatch.org, is an organization of concerned Texans and public officials who question the wisdom of the Trans-Texas Corridor. Our mission is to increase public awareness and understanding of the Trans-Texas Corridor and its impact on Texas and all Texans.

Interestingly enough, this hasn't shown up in the newsletter archive on the Corridor Watch web site yet. I copied the text from email.

Also from Corridor Watch:

072706 - CorridorWatch.org PRESS RELEASE

CorridorWatch.org TO FILE FORMAL COMPLAINT AND COMMENTS TONIGHT

CorridorWatch.org co-founder David Stall will attend and participate in the TTC-35 Tier One Draft Environmental Impact Study Public Hearing tonight (July 27, 2006) in Dallas, Texas.

Mr Stall will speak on behalf of the more than 5,000 members of CorridorWatch.org. In addition to providing comments on the environmental issues Stall will lodge formal complaints about the actions of the Texas Transportation Commission and the Texas Department of Transportation concerning their violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.

In addition to speaking, CorridorWatch.org will file its formal ten-page written Tier One TTC-35 DEIS comments that includes details in support of CorridorWatch.org complaints.

David Stall has been a vocal critic of the Trans-Texas Corridor since its inception. Together with his wife Linda Stall they formed CorridorWatch.org and operate a very active website. The Stalls have traveled across Texas educating the public and elected officials about the TTC for more than two years.

CorridorWatch.org is a not-for-profit organization with members who live in, or own property in, 186 Texas counties.

The TxDOT TTC-35 Public Hearing will be held at the Grauwyler Community Center, 7780 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, Texas. The meeting begins at 5:00pm.

Mr. Stall is scheduled to speak shortly after 7:00pm.

Mr. Stall's oral statement will be available in print for the media following his presentation at the hearing.

Copies of CorridorWatch.org's written comments and complaint will be available to the media following Mr. Stall’s presentation at the hearing.

David Stall and Linda Stall will be available for interview before and after the hearing. They will also be available for interview Friday morning (July 28) in Dallas and Saturday (July 29) in Houston.

CONTACT: Linda Stall 512.784.6539 / David Stall 832.984.4314

===========================================

CorridorWatch.org, Inc.
Fayetteville, TX 78940-5468
"Challenging the Wisdom of the Trans-Texas Corridor"

For More Information Visit Us on the Internet: www.CorridorWatch.org

TxDOT may look at TTC options

By JONATHAN BLUNDELL Daily Light staff writer

Wednesday, July 26, 2006 3:44 PM CDT

After public hearings in Ennis, Waxahachie and Hill County, the Texas Department of Transportation may expand its environmental study area to include a possible alignment for the Trans-Texas Corridor 35 along Highway 360, but TxDOT is neither confirming nor denying the change.

“Any changes could be made,” Kelli Petras, assistant public information officer for TxDOT, said. “We’re still holding all our public hearings on the TTC and nothing will be decided until all the meetings are over. We’re considering everything but right now TxDOT still has our same preferred corridor area.”

Currently, TxDOT’s preferred route for the north to south transportation corridor includes a route through Ellis County from Milford to east of Ferris.

The TTC 35 plan is the first phase of a much larger transportation plan envisioned by Gov. Rick Perry and TxDOT to provide high speed lanes for personal vehicles, trucks and rail to criss-cross the state over the next 50 years.

The roadways will be constructed using future tolls on the road.

The TTC 35 plan is still in the early design phase, with routes narrowed down to 10-mile wide environmental study areas, but after public hearings end in August, TxDOT will submit its proposal to the Federal Highway Administration for approval and then begin whittling down the areas of study to a 1,200 foot right-of-way that stretches from Laredo to the Texas-Oklahoma border.

According to TxDOT, the TTC 35 will use existing infrastructure whenever possible and, in some locations, two or more corridors may be used to carry rail, commercial trucks, personal vehicles and utilities from one end of the state to the other.

With TxDOT’s preferred alignment virtually cutting Ellis County in half, the Ellis County Commissioners Court joined the North Central Texas Council of Governments earlier this month in support of a resolution to move the corridor to the Highway 360 and Loop 9 corridors.

Ellis County, along with the cities of Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Dallas, Duncanville and Lancaster, have each passed resolutions recently supporting the Highway 360 alternative.

“The Regional Transportation Commission started looking a year and a half ago at adopting a preferred alignment for the TTC,” Lara Rodriguez, a spokesman for NCTCOG, said. “We wanted to address some of the congestion and air quality issues. We’ve been negotiating with TxDOT and TxDOT is not yet at the point of deciding a specific alignment but I believe we’ve come to an agreement with TxDOT for them to at least study the area in the Highway 360 and Loop 9 corridor.”

While TxDOT continues its public hearings on the alignment, members of the RTC have been at a number of the meetings and shared their preferred alignment.

“One thing to keep in mind is that anything significantly suggested or planned by the Metropolitan Planning Organization has to be signed off on by RTC,” Rodriguez said. “And in the same way, anything the RTC wants to do will have to be signed off on by TxDOT.”

But a clear answer from TxDOT may not be available until after public hearings have been completed, Aug. 21.

“There have been discussions between the NCTCOG and top level people at TxDOT,” Greg Royster, principal transportation engineer for NCTCOG, said. “They have said they would expand their study area to include the 360 corridor but there likely won’t be an announcement until the end of the public hearings, which is Aug. 21.”

“The COG has presented their idea at every public hearing,” Petras said. “We are considering what they’re saying but we’re not actually changing the study area. It may change or it may not change. But as of right now we’re not changing anything.”

More information on the TTC can be found at www.keeptexasmovingforward.com [sic] and http://www.nctcog.org/trans/goods/ttc.

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