Citizens urged to stay vigil over Trans-Texas Corridor plan

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

Feb. 2, 2006 - Rural citizens should keep their eyes and ears open, and their hands on their pocketbooks when dealing with the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, according to Linda Stall, a founder of CorridorWatch.org.

A pet project of Gov. Rick Perry devised to alleviate major roadway congestion, the plan is drawing criticism from many Texans … especially those in the rural areas who would be most affected if the corridor plans are successful.

The Texas Transportation Commission is proposing about 4,000 miles of corridors which would “crisscross” the entire state. Four of the corridors have been identified by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) as “priority corridors.” The official name of the project is the TTC-35 Oklahoma to Mexico/Gulf Coast Element.

Citizens against the project say a big problem with the plan is that everything is so secretive, and they say no one has been able to get a straight answer as to the exact locations of these “priority corridors.”  

On Jan. 17, TxDOT conducted an industry workshop to “launch Comprehensive Development Agreements (CDAs).” A CDA is a road and land development project that combines the powers of the state with private interests. 

While the projects can be quite lucrative for private corporations, according to Sal Costello, founder of People for Efficient Transportation, it presents problems for the public concerning gas tax dollars given for private sector profit (called “Corporate Welfare”), and can create public debt for private sector profits, will privatize and toll public highways and … last but not least … take private land for private sector profits.

Stall and her husband David, “challenges the wisdom of the TTC,” and said Gov. Perry and others are playing the TTC at a “very low key,” hoping citizens will forget it is happening, until it is too late.

While citizens have questioned locations, time frames and other information, TxDOT and the Spanish contractor Cintra Zachry, have kept a tight lip on the details, cited Stall. She pointed to a ruling issued May 31, 2005, by the Texas Attorney General’s office which states TxDOT “must release hundreds of pages of the CDA kept secret in the TXDOT/Cintra Zachry deal to develop the Trans Texas Corridor TTC035.” In June 2005, Cintra Zachry filed a lawsuit against the Texas Attorney General to not make public the CDA details.

As of press time, no details concerning the CDA have been released, but are expected by early spring, according to Stall.

On May 3, 2005, hundreds of protestors of the TTC gathered on the steps of the Capitol in Austin. State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn addressed the protestors and called the project the “Trans-Texas Catastrophe.”

According to TxDOT, public meetings were held during the period of Feb. 15 to March 10, 2005, in 45 cities over the state. While citizens could offer their input and submit questions and comments, TxDOT staff was not there to answer questions, but to gather input and questions for study.

Members of the CorridorWatch organization have conducted meetings across Texas and plan to continue to “until real information is released by TxDOT.” 

Information on the Trans-Texas website states that once the CDA is approved, it will probably take between three and five years for the required federal environmental studies to be completed on the chosen routes. The entire project is expected take over 50 years to complete.

While urban dwellers are familiar with “congested areas” of traffic, TxDOT noted the TTC would keep some of the traffic out of urban areas, along with more gas pollution, and provide “new routes for transportation of hazardous materials.”

At a Jan. 24 dinner to honor Class IX of the Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership (TALL), Sen.Todd Staples admitted “there were problems we discovered after the legislation (to move forward with TTC) passed because it offers years and years of loopholes” which “denied private property owners their rights and gave some state agencies some (rights) they should not have.

�But,� Staples pointed out, economic adversity will occur in the state �if we do nothing to solve the over-crowded roadways.� Companies have said, according to Staples, they lose billions of dollars in hours and delays due to the crowded roadways in Texas.

Staples, at the Jan. 24 dinner, said legislative committees have “worked to restore private property rights they are entitled to ... and to solve the crowded roadways” problem.

As Stall noted, there’s nothing good about TTC for rural areas. If the corridors are built anywhere near the proposed sites, “rural areas will have heavier loaded trucks carrying hazardous materials going through ag property at speeds of 80 to 85 miles per hour.” Also, local fire departments (many of them volunteer) would be expected to take care of any (traffic wreck) problems, without the benefit of property or school taxes for the land acquired by the TTC.

Several areas, including the Dallas area, have been working on transportation projects for several years, but if the TTC is built, it will take the project (efforts) away from Dallas, explained Stall.

While private property owners in the path of the 1,200-foot-wide corridor would be paid for their land at a price set by appraisers hired by TxDOT, according to Stall, and the only option to taking the bid would be to go to court.

Stall said Texans are now in a “wait-and-see” mode, waiting to hear what and where the final TTC plans will fall. She suggests citizens staying in touch with their local legislative members, writing letters to the editors of local papers, and just staying on top of the information concerning the TTC. With so many questions still unanswered, it will be of extreme importance to rural citizens who have the most to loose … private interests vs. public interests … among others.

With the TTC project, which would include toll roads is projected to cost $184 billion, Texans can’t afford to be expected to pay for roads more than once, noted Stall.

(For more information: www.CorridorWatch.org.)