Perry on TTC-69: "Some environmental documents could be ready this summer."
Perry cites plans for South Texas corridor
December 09,2005
Matt Whittaker
The Monitor
Copyright 2005
McALLEN — The "road fairy" may be dead, but Gov. Rick Perry thinks he has found a way to help pay for a major highway between the Rio Grande Valley and the rest of the nation.
Perry announced details of a plan for the state to partner with the private sector to develop an interstate-quality highway and rail corridor connecting the Valley — the only metropolitan area in the state without direct access to an interstate highway — to Interstate 37.
The governor unveiled the details for his plans for the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor 69 on Thursday in Houston at the annual meeting of the Alliance for I-69 Texas, a lobby group formed 12 years ago to promote Interstate Highway 69 corridor development.
Thursday’s meeting comes a month after Texas Department of Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton said the state should not expect federal funding for a proposed I-69.
"I-69 is dead in the state of Texas," Houghton said at the time. "The road fairy has been shot."
Houghton’s comments drew international attention because the proposed I-69 would have been the shortest route between Canada and Mexico.
Perry said Thursday the state’s transportation commission, at his order today, will begin developing proposals to build an Interstate-quality highway to connect the Valley to I-37 in George West, south of San Antonio.
The commission will also begin soliciting proposals to build TTC-69 from the Valley through northeast Texas, he said, adding that Texas is willing to invest state equity in those proposals.
A federal I-69 environmental study is approaching the halfway point and some environmental documents could be ready this summer, Perry said. The results of those studies will determine which cities south of San Antonio — Laredo, Brownsville or McAllen — the route would connect with.
The proposed Trans-Texas Corridor would be funded with public and private money to construct new roads and improve existing highways that stretch from either Laredo or a city in the Valley to Texarkana in northeast Texas.
Interstate 30 at Texarkana would then be the next leg for traffic and freight leaving Texas for points northeast, as it already is for the trucking hub of Dallas.
Funding for the state transportation project could come from several sources, including tolls, bonds or raising taxes and fees on water, electricity or cable bills.
The corridor would be built as the state grows over the next 50 years and is projected to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, save commuters time with speed limits of up to 85 mph, take hazardous cargo out of the most populated areas, provide for passenger rail between cities and reduce air pollution, according to the governor’s office.
"If Texas is to maximize the benefits of trade, if we are to continue to attract new jobs and investments, we have got to be better connected to the industrial Midwest and opportunities beyond," Perry said Thursday, according to prepared remarks obtained before his speech. "Now, I’m aware that one of my transportation commissioners delivered some bad news a couple weeks ago about I-69.
"Like Commissioner Houghton, I think it is important to embrace some frank realities," Perry said. "We have received little funding to design and construct I-69 in two separate federal transportation bills. We all have to recognize the federal funding genie is dead. By the time Washington funds I-69, we won’t need it; we’ll all be driving around in hover cars."
The project could include a mix of toll lanes and non-tolled lanes.
The state could pay for it, Perry said, because over the last five years Texas has passed three constitutional amendments, rewritten the transportation code and gotten the flexibility it needs from federal law to complement the state plan.
Texas wants to get bids from the private sector so it can begin work once the environmental process is over, a Perry spokeswoman said.
The private sector has offered to put more than $7 billion in equity into the I-35 corridor to build TTC-35, a proposed segment of the Trans Texas Corridor, Perry said.
"It’s a new day for the Valley," Houghton said. "You’re going to get an Interstate-standard highway down to the Valley. You talk about opening up economic development in the Valley."
Mike Allen, president and CEO of the McAllen Economic Development Corp., who attended Perry’s speech, said the most significant thing about Perry’s remarks was the specific recommendations he discussed. These gave Allen the impression that the governor and the state’s transportation leader are serious about the project.
"I think this is going to become a priority for the governor and TxDOT," Allen said.
The highway will be a good thing for business in the Valley, he said. It is critical to international trade, much of which goes from Mexico through Texas.
Allen said Houghton’s November comments galvanized opinion throughout Texas toward getting the project on a faster track.
"People from South Texas want an Interstate highway," Allen said.
Bill Summers, president and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership Chamber of Commerce, attended Thursday’s meeting. He has been trying to bring I-69 to the Valley for years.
"I was really happy," he said after the speech. "It brought tears to my eyes. We’ve been working so hard on this. We’re going to have an Interstate highway from the Valley to Interstate 37."
———
Matt Whittaker covers business, economics, finance and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4422.
© 2005 The Monitor www.themonitor.com
December 09,2005
Matt Whittaker
The Monitor
Copyright 2005
McALLEN — The "road fairy" may be dead, but Gov. Rick Perry thinks he has found a way to help pay for a major highway between the Rio Grande Valley and the rest of the nation.
Perry announced details of a plan for the state to partner with the private sector to develop an interstate-quality highway and rail corridor connecting the Valley — the only metropolitan area in the state without direct access to an interstate highway — to Interstate 37.
The governor unveiled the details for his plans for the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor 69 on Thursday in Houston at the annual meeting of the Alliance for I-69 Texas, a lobby group formed 12 years ago to promote Interstate Highway 69 corridor development.
Thursday’s meeting comes a month after Texas Department of Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton said the state should not expect federal funding for a proposed I-69.
"I-69 is dead in the state of Texas," Houghton said at the time. "The road fairy has been shot."
Houghton’s comments drew international attention because the proposed I-69 would have been the shortest route between Canada and Mexico.
Perry said Thursday the state’s transportation commission, at his order today, will begin developing proposals to build an Interstate-quality highway to connect the Valley to I-37 in George West, south of San Antonio.
The commission will also begin soliciting proposals to build TTC-69 from the Valley through northeast Texas, he said, adding that Texas is willing to invest state equity in those proposals.
A federal I-69 environmental study is approaching the halfway point and some environmental documents could be ready this summer, Perry said. The results of those studies will determine which cities south of San Antonio — Laredo, Brownsville or McAllen — the route would connect with.
The proposed Trans-Texas Corridor would be funded with public and private money to construct new roads and improve existing highways that stretch from either Laredo or a city in the Valley to Texarkana in northeast Texas.
Interstate 30 at Texarkana would then be the next leg for traffic and freight leaving Texas for points northeast, as it already is for the trucking hub of Dallas.
Funding for the state transportation project could come from several sources, including tolls, bonds or raising taxes and fees on water, electricity or cable bills.
The corridor would be built as the state grows over the next 50 years and is projected to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, save commuters time with speed limits of up to 85 mph, take hazardous cargo out of the most populated areas, provide for passenger rail between cities and reduce air pollution, according to the governor’s office.
"If Texas is to maximize the benefits of trade, if we are to continue to attract new jobs and investments, we have got to be better connected to the industrial Midwest and opportunities beyond," Perry said Thursday, according to prepared remarks obtained before his speech. "Now, I’m aware that one of my transportation commissioners delivered some bad news a couple weeks ago about I-69.
"Like Commissioner Houghton, I think it is important to embrace some frank realities," Perry said. "We have received little funding to design and construct I-69 in two separate federal transportation bills. We all have to recognize the federal funding genie is dead. By the time Washington funds I-69, we won’t need it; we’ll all be driving around in hover cars."
The project could include a mix of toll lanes and non-tolled lanes.
The state could pay for it, Perry said, because over the last five years Texas has passed three constitutional amendments, rewritten the transportation code and gotten the flexibility it needs from federal law to complement the state plan.
Texas wants to get bids from the private sector so it can begin work once the environmental process is over, a Perry spokeswoman said.
The private sector has offered to put more than $7 billion in equity into the I-35 corridor to build TTC-35, a proposed segment of the Trans Texas Corridor, Perry said.
"It’s a new day for the Valley," Houghton said. "You’re going to get an Interstate-standard highway down to the Valley. You talk about opening up economic development in the Valley."
Mike Allen, president and CEO of the McAllen Economic Development Corp., who attended Perry’s speech, said the most significant thing about Perry’s remarks was the specific recommendations he discussed. These gave Allen the impression that the governor and the state’s transportation leader are serious about the project.
"I think this is going to become a priority for the governor and TxDOT," Allen said.
The highway will be a good thing for business in the Valley, he said. It is critical to international trade, much of which goes from Mexico through Texas.
Allen said Houghton’s November comments galvanized opinion throughout Texas toward getting the project on a faster track.
"People from South Texas want an Interstate highway," Allen said.
Bill Summers, president and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership Chamber of Commerce, attended Thursday’s meeting. He has been trying to bring I-69 to the Valley for years.
"I was really happy," he said after the speech. "It brought tears to my eyes. We’ve been working so hard on this. We’re going to have an Interstate highway from the Valley to Interstate 37."
———
Matt Whittaker covers business, economics, finance and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4422.
© 2005 The Monitor
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Friday, December 09, 2005
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