TxDOT: "Dollars for transportation could come from tolls, bonds, increased taxes and fees on water, electricity or cable bills."
TxDOT commissioner says I-69 is dead
11/8/2005
Kilgore News herald
Copyright 2005
WESLACO, Texas (AP) Texas must find money to pay for an interstate highway linking the Rio Grande Valley to commercial centers in Mexico and Canada and other road projects without relying on federal funds, state officials say.
Neither the federal government nor Texas have the amount needed to complete Interstate 69, a 1,600-mile highway connecting the three North American Free Trade Agreement countries, Texas Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton told South Texas officials and business leaders on Tuesday.
“I-69 is dead in the state of Texas,” Houghton said. “The road fairy has been shot.”
But several Texas lawmakers disagreed, pointing out that some road widening under way in Texas is part of the project. Congress also has approved $50 million for studies to determine the interstate's route.
“The project's not dead,” Ciaran Clayton, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, said in a story in Wednesday's editions of The Monitor. “It's going a lot slower than we'd like.”
I-69 would extend from South Texas to eastern Michigan. In Texas, the highway could enter near Texarkana, proceed south through Marshall and arrive at the Texas border with Mexico. The Texas Department of Transportation could begin exploring routes for the highway and conducting environmental impact studies, Houghton said.
Texas isn't receiving enough federal funding to maintain the systems it currently has. That makes it unlikely for Washington to spend up to $7 billion for the I-69 system inside the state, said Robert Black, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry.
However, lawmakers point to a highway bill that increases Texas' rate of return on gas tax dollars to 92 percent by 2008. That will increase the state's share of highway funding to $2.89 billion.
“At this point the state needs to decide whether I-69 is a top priority,” said Chris Paulitz, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. Texas' Rio Grande Valley is the only metropolitan area in the state without direct access to an Interstate highway.
“For decades, TxDOT has shortchanged the Valley,” U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said in a statement. “The resources that should have gone to construct an expressway connecting us to the rest of the state went instead to Dallas, Houston and elsewhere. Since TxDOT will receive a significant increase in federal funding from the new transportation bill, the question for I-69 should be not where's the funeral but when is the ribbon cutting.”
One option would be a TransTexas Corridor that's separate from the Interstate system. Building costs be paid for by the private sector and tolls.
Dollars for other state transportation projects could come from several sources, including tolls, bonds, increased taxes and additional fees on water, electricity or cable bills, Houghton said.
© 2005 The Associated Press: www.kilgorenewsherald.com
11/8/2005
Kilgore News herald
Copyright 2005
WESLACO, Texas (AP) Texas must find money to pay for an interstate highway linking the Rio Grande Valley to commercial centers in Mexico and Canada and other road projects without relying on federal funds, state officials say.
Neither the federal government nor Texas have the amount needed to complete Interstate 69, a 1,600-mile highway connecting the three North American Free Trade Agreement countries, Texas Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton told South Texas officials and business leaders on Tuesday.
“I-69 is dead in the state of Texas,” Houghton said. “The road fairy has been shot.”
But several Texas lawmakers disagreed, pointing out that some road widening under way in Texas is part of the project. Congress also has approved $50 million for studies to determine the interstate's route.
“The project's not dead,” Ciaran Clayton, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, said in a story in Wednesday's editions of The Monitor. “It's going a lot slower than we'd like.”
I-69 would extend from South Texas to eastern Michigan. In Texas, the highway could enter near Texarkana, proceed south through Marshall and arrive at the Texas border with Mexico. The Texas Department of Transportation could begin exploring routes for the highway and conducting environmental impact studies, Houghton said.
Texas isn't receiving enough federal funding to maintain the systems it currently has. That makes it unlikely for Washington to spend up to $7 billion for the I-69 system inside the state, said Robert Black, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry.
However, lawmakers point to a highway bill that increases Texas' rate of return on gas tax dollars to 92 percent by 2008. That will increase the state's share of highway funding to $2.89 billion.
“At this point the state needs to decide whether I-69 is a top priority,” said Chris Paulitz, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. Texas' Rio Grande Valley is the only metropolitan area in the state without direct access to an Interstate highway.
“For decades, TxDOT has shortchanged the Valley,” U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said in a statement. “The resources that should have gone to construct an expressway connecting us to the rest of the state went instead to Dallas, Houston and elsewhere. Since TxDOT will receive a significant increase in federal funding from the new transportation bill, the question for I-69 should be not where's the funeral but when is the ribbon cutting.”
One option would be a TransTexas Corridor that's separate from the Interstate system. Building costs be paid for by the private sector and tolls.
Dollars for other state transportation projects could come from several sources, including tolls, bonds, increased taxes and additional fees on water, electricity or cable bills, Houghton said.
© 2005 The Associated Press:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Thursday, November 24, 2005
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