TTC resolution
County to consider TTC resolution
July 9, 2006
By JONATHAN BLUNDELL
The Waxahachie Daily Light
Copyright 2006
Before the Texas Department of Transportation holds two public hearings in Ellis County this week, the Ellis County commissioners will consider a resolution proposing an alternative to the departments proposed location of the Trans-Texas Corridor.
The corridor is being billed as a multi-use transportation alternative to the heavily congested Interstate 35 and will connect Laredo with the Texas-Oklahoma border and a 10-mile swath between Waxahachie and Ennis is being considered for the final location of the roadway through Ellis County.
“The Trans-Texas Corridor will provide unprecedented trade opportunities, a faster transportation system that moves freight and hazardous materials out of city centers and thousands of new jobs,” Gov. Rick Perry said after TxDOT released its initial corridor study areas.
TxDOT began its environmental study for the corridor in February 2004 and held the first public meetings in the spring of 2004.
The department’s report, released in April, shows a narrowed study area, 10 miles wide, mainly parallel to Interstate 35 and shows 12 different possibilities for the alignment of the highway. Seven of those dozen plans show the statewide corridor splitting right through Ellis County.
The report is not final and public hearings are being held this summer for input from Texas residents on the final alignment, including the two meetings in Ellis County this week.
The final corridor will be about 1,200 feet wide.
“It is important to point out that Tier One is done from a very high level,” Behrins said. “From a high level we look at where a potential 1,200 foot corridor from Oklahoma to Mexico can fit. We don’t look at where individual pieces, like rail or roadways, should connect to existing cities. That will come in Tier Two. To try and figure out those connections now would be like trying to put in the electrical wiring of a house before you design it or even purchase a lot to build it on.”
About 45 percent of the 21 million Texans live within 50 miles of Interstate 35. By 2030, TxDOT estimates more than 13 million people will live within the Interstate 35 corridor.
With so much of the population centered around the interstate corridor, it is no longer a viable option for intercity and freight travel.
TxDOT already predicts Interstate 35 will meet or exceed capacity by 2025, even with planned improvements to the roadway. The Trans-Texas Corridor report predicts that the interstate would need to be widened to 16 lanes in metro areas and 12 lanes through Central Texas to meet the corridor’s future traffic demands.
The commissioners will discuss a resolution Monday morning that supports moving the corridor’s study area to the Highway 360 corridor, closer to the Ellis County and Johnson County line.
“The current alignment essentially cuts Ellis County in half,” county planner Clyde Melick said. “Our biggest concerns are for the farmers in that area and tearing up Blackland Prairie areas. We’re asking TxDOT to do further studies towards putting the TTC along the 360 corridor.”
Melick said the resolution was drafted after concerns were raised by one of the commissioners, but Melick added that he was unsure how the rest of the commissioners felt.
Commissioner Ron Brown, Pct. 4, sits on the Regional Transportation Council, a group which has also said placement of the TTC along the 360 corridor would be its preferred method as well.
“No federal dollars can be spent without their approval,” Melick added. “We’re not saying we won’t accept it unless you put it there, but we’re asking TxDOT to do some further studies on this other option. We can help by asking them to do further studies.”
TxDOT will hold a public hearing Monday night in Ennis at the Knights of Columbus Hall. A second meeting will be held Wednesday night in Waxahachie at the Waxahachie Civic Center.
Both meetings will offer an open house beginning at 5 p.m., with a public hearing scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m
For more information on the meetings or the TTC, visit www.keeptexasmoving.org.
E-mail j.blundell@waxahachiedailylight.com
© 2006 The Daily Light: www.waxahachiedailylight.com
July 9, 2006
By JONATHAN BLUNDELL
The Waxahachie Daily Light
Copyright 2006
Before the Texas Department of Transportation holds two public hearings in Ellis County this week, the Ellis County commissioners will consider a resolution proposing an alternative to the departments proposed location of the Trans-Texas Corridor.
The corridor is being billed as a multi-use transportation alternative to the heavily congested Interstate 35 and will connect Laredo with the Texas-Oklahoma border and a 10-mile swath between Waxahachie and Ennis is being considered for the final location of the roadway through Ellis County.
“The Trans-Texas Corridor will provide unprecedented trade opportunities, a faster transportation system that moves freight and hazardous materials out of city centers and thousands of new jobs,” Gov. Rick Perry said after TxDOT released its initial corridor study areas.
TxDOT began its environmental study for the corridor in February 2004 and held the first public meetings in the spring of 2004.
The department’s report, released in April, shows a narrowed study area, 10 miles wide, mainly parallel to Interstate 35 and shows 12 different possibilities for the alignment of the highway. Seven of those dozen plans show the statewide corridor splitting right through Ellis County.
The report is not final and public hearings are being held this summer for input from Texas residents on the final alignment, including the two meetings in Ellis County this week.
The final corridor will be about 1,200 feet wide.
“It is important to point out that Tier One is done from a very high level,” Behrins said. “From a high level we look at where a potential 1,200 foot corridor from Oklahoma to Mexico can fit. We don’t look at where individual pieces, like rail or roadways, should connect to existing cities. That will come in Tier Two. To try and figure out those connections now would be like trying to put in the electrical wiring of a house before you design it or even purchase a lot to build it on.”
About 45 percent of the 21 million Texans live within 50 miles of Interstate 35. By 2030, TxDOT estimates more than 13 million people will live within the Interstate 35 corridor.
With so much of the population centered around the interstate corridor, it is no longer a viable option for intercity and freight travel.
TxDOT already predicts Interstate 35 will meet or exceed capacity by 2025, even with planned improvements to the roadway. The Trans-Texas Corridor report predicts that the interstate would need to be widened to 16 lanes in metro areas and 12 lanes through Central Texas to meet the corridor’s future traffic demands.
The commissioners will discuss a resolution Monday morning that supports moving the corridor’s study area to the Highway 360 corridor, closer to the Ellis County and Johnson County line.
“The current alignment essentially cuts Ellis County in half,” county planner Clyde Melick said. “Our biggest concerns are for the farmers in that area and tearing up Blackland Prairie areas. We’re asking TxDOT to do further studies towards putting the TTC along the 360 corridor.”
Melick said the resolution was drafted after concerns were raised by one of the commissioners, but Melick added that he was unsure how the rest of the commissioners felt.
Commissioner Ron Brown, Pct. 4, sits on the Regional Transportation Council, a group which has also said placement of the TTC along the 360 corridor would be its preferred method as well.
“No federal dollars can be spent without their approval,” Melick added. “We’re not saying we won’t accept it unless you put it there, but we’re asking TxDOT to do some further studies on this other option. We can help by asking them to do further studies.”
TxDOT will hold a public hearing Monday night in Ennis at the Knights of Columbus Hall. A second meeting will be held Wednesday night in Waxahachie at the Waxahachie Civic Center.
Both meetings will offer an open house beginning at 5 p.m., with a public hearing scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m
For more information on the meetings or the TTC, visit www.keeptexasmoving.org.
E-mail j.blundell@waxahachiedailylight.com
© 2006 The Daily Light:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Sunday, July 09, 2006
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