"A bypass is not what this booming metropolitan area wants, needs or deserves."
Don't Bypass D-FW: Keep Trans-Texas Corridor within reach
April 13, 2006
Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006
America's transportation picture became clear enough in the 1800s: Running railroad tracks alongside a village transformed it into a city.
Construction of interstate highways in the 1950s demonstrated the reverse effect: Bypassing a town often caused it to wither.
Hence the intense disappointment by many civic and business leaders in the Dallas-Fort Worth area last week when they saw the state's latest planning maps for the gargantuan Trans-Texas Corridor tollway.
The proposed Mexico-to-Oklahoma transportation swath hugs Interstate 35 for much of its route but manages to give Dallas a mere sidelong glance as it passes on the east.
A bypass is not what this booming metropolitan area wants, needs or deserves.
From some local communities, motorists and truckers would have a haul of 30, 40 or 50 miles or more to reach the corridor.
Planners need to make improvements in the next phase of the design process.
Let's review the solid arguments in behalf of the unprecedented project:
•Texas' jammed interstates need reliever routes, especially for trucks, and tax money isn't keeping up with expansion needs.
•Hazardous materials should go around, not through, urban centers.
•It helps air quality to reroute through traffic and keep it moving.
•The corridor would lay the groundwork for adding passenger rail when the time comes.
Accomplishing those objectives appears possible if state planners work closely with regional transportation and elected officials about local transit needs.
North Texas' Regional Transportation Council advocates an alternate local route that resembles a giant doughnut touching or encircling at least eight counties. Under its proposal, the corridor would approach that doughnut from the south near the mid-cities, instead of making the state's recommended eastern swing.
More local input would better protect North Texas' economic interests, including the flourishing trans-shipment industry in southern Dallas and Dallas County.
This region will have another chance to press its case when five weeks of hearings begin this summer on the state's recommended route. We urge local officials to speak with a clear, unified voice.
Downstate, the recommended path for the Trans-Texas Corridor makes a tight semicircle around San Antonio, as if to respect that city's interest in being within reach of an important new river of commerce.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area certainly shares that interest and should insist on the same access as our neighbor to the south.
© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co www.dallasnews.com
April 13, 2006
Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006
America's transportation picture became clear enough in the 1800s: Running railroad tracks alongside a village transformed it into a city.
Construction of interstate highways in the 1950s demonstrated the reverse effect: Bypassing a town often caused it to wither.
Hence the intense disappointment by many civic and business leaders in the Dallas-Fort Worth area last week when they saw the state's latest planning maps for the gargantuan Trans-Texas Corridor tollway.
The proposed Mexico-to-Oklahoma transportation swath hugs Interstate 35 for much of its route but manages to give Dallas a mere sidelong glance as it passes on the east.
A bypass is not what this booming metropolitan area wants, needs or deserves.
From some local communities, motorists and truckers would have a haul of 30, 40 or 50 miles or more to reach the corridor.
Planners need to make improvements in the next phase of the design process.
Let's review the solid arguments in behalf of the unprecedented project:
•Texas' jammed interstates need reliever routes, especially for trucks, and tax money isn't keeping up with expansion needs.
•Hazardous materials should go around, not through, urban centers.
•It helps air quality to reroute through traffic and keep it moving.
•The corridor would lay the groundwork for adding passenger rail when the time comes.
Accomplishing those objectives appears possible if state planners work closely with regional transportation and elected officials about local transit needs.
North Texas' Regional Transportation Council advocates an alternate local route that resembles a giant doughnut touching or encircling at least eight counties. Under its proposal, the corridor would approach that doughnut from the south near the mid-cities, instead of making the state's recommended eastern swing.
More local input would better protect North Texas' economic interests, including the flourishing trans-shipment industry in southern Dallas and Dallas County.
This region will have another chance to press its case when five weeks of hearings begin this summer on the state's recommended route. We urge local officials to speak with a clear, unified voice.
Downstate, the recommended path for the Trans-Texas Corridor makes a tight semicircle around San Antonio, as if to respect that city's interest in being within reach of an important new river of commerce.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area certainly shares that interest and should insist on the same access as our neighbor to the south.
© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Friday, April 14, 2006
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