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Texans speak out against corridor
High costs and funding problems inspire little public confidence
By Michelle West
Committee members asked the audience to maintain its composure as the crowd groaned in disapproval at statements made by a controversial transportation official addressing a state Senate panel Thursday.
The public hearing by the Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security addressed the topics of toll roads, public-private partnerships and the Trans-Texas Corridor. These issues, along with Texas Department of Transportation Chairman Ric Williamson, evoked negative reactions from the vast majority of a witness list - that as of 8:30 a.m. numbered more than 80 - testifying in front of an audience of more than 1,000 people, many of whom opposed the buiding of the corridor. The corridor, first proposed by Gov. Rick Perry in 2002, received the lion's share of input from citizen groups, farmers, municipal officials and others. Parallel highways would be built along Interstate Highways 35, 37 and 69 from Denison to the Rio Grande Valley, I-69 from Texarkana to Houston to Laredo, I-45 from Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston, and I-10 from El Paso to Orange, according to a 2002 commission report. These highways would include a passenger, commuter and freight rail roadways separating passenger from commercial traffic and a "dedicated utility zone." Revenue gained from the state gas tax, remaining at 20 cents per gallon for 15 years, is insufficient to fund future roadway projects that are necessary to deal with the state's rapid population growth, Williamson told the senators. Private equity firms offer a solution to the funding problem, he said. Last month, the committee's chairman, Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, called for the replacement of Williamson, reasoning that his handling of the project in a push to see the corridor through has alienated many in the public. Adding to controversy, a recent state audit found errors in the department's accounting, and the agency was criticized for keeping details of a contract from being released in a public information request. The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely.
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Thomas Schrimsher
posted 12/29/07 @ 6:17 AM CST
To all Americans:
The American people are being ignored by our "Leaders" in Washington by the effort to destroy our Constitution with the "good for nothing" North American Union, which we must not allow to happen. (Continued…)
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