" TxDOT still has our same preferred corridor area."
TxDOT may look at TTC options
July 26, 2006
By JONATHAN BLUNDELL
Waxahachie Daily Light
Copyright 2006
After public hearings in Ennis, Waxahachie and Hill County, the Texas Department of Transportation may expand its environmental study area to include a possible alignment for the Trans-Texas Corridor 35 along Highway 360, but TxDOT is neither confirming nor denying the change.
“Any changes could be made,” Kelli Petras, assistant public information officer for TxDOT, said. “We’re still holding all our public hearings on the TTC and nothing will be decided until all the meetings are over. We’re considering everything but right now TxDOT still has our same preferred corridor area.”
Currently, TxDOT’s preferred route for the north to south transportation corridor includes a route through Ellis County from Milford to east of Ferris.
The TTC 35 plan is the first phase of a much larger transportation plan envisioned by Gov. Rick Perry and TxDOT to provide high speed lanes for personal vehicles, trucks and rail to criss-cross the state over the next 50 years.
The roadways will be constructed using future tolls on the road.
The TTC 35 plan is still in the early design phase, with routes narrowed down to 10-mile wide environmental study areas, but after public hearings end in August, TxDOT will submit its proposal to the Federal Highway Administration for approval and then begin whittling down the areas of study to a 1,200 foot right-of-way that stretches from Laredo to the Texas-Oklahoma border.
According to TxDOT, the TTC 35 will use existing infrastructure whenever possible and, in some locations, two or more corridors may be used to carry rail, commercial trucks, personal vehicles and utilities from one end of the state to the other.
With TxDOT’s preferred alignment virtually cutting Ellis County in half, the Ellis County Commissioners Court joined the North Central Texas Council of Governments earlier this month in support of a resolution to move the corridor to the Highway 360 and Loop 9 corridors.
Ellis County, along with the cities of Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Dallas, Duncanville and Lancaster, have each passed resolutions recently supporting the Highway 360 alternative.
“The Regional Transportation Commission started looking a year and a half ago at adopting a preferred alignment for the TTC,” Lara Rodriguez, a spokesman for NCTCOG, said. “We wanted to address some of the congestion and air quality issues. We’ve been negotiating with TxDOT and TxDOT is not yet at the point of deciding a specific alignment but I believe we’ve come to an agreement with TxDOT for them to at least study the area in the Highway 360 and Loop 9 corridor.”
While TxDOT continues its public hearings on the alignment, members of the RTC have been at a number of the meetings and shared their preferred alignment.
“One thing to keep in mind is that anything significantly suggested or planned by the Metropolitan Planning Organization has to be signed off on by RTC,” Rodriguez said. “And in the same way, anything the RTC wants to do will have to be signed off on by TxDOT.”
But a clear answer from TxDOT may not be available until after public hearings have been completed, Aug. 21.
“There have been discussions between the NCTCOG and top level people at TxDOT,” Greg Royster, principal transportation engineer for NCTCOG, said. “They have said they would expand their study area to include the 360 corridor but there likely won’t be an announcement until the end of the public hearings, which is Aug. 21.”
“The COG has presented their idea at every public hearing,” Petras said. “We are considering what they’re saying but we’re not actually changing the study area. It may change or it may not change. But as of right now we’re not changing anything.”
More information on the TTC can be found at www.keeptexasmovingforward.com and http://www.nctcog.org/trans/goods/ttc.
j.blundell@waxahachiedailylight.com
© 2006 The Daily Light: www.waxahachiedailylight.com
July 26, 2006
By JONATHAN BLUNDELL
Waxahachie Daily Light
Copyright 2006
After public hearings in Ennis, Waxahachie and Hill County, the Texas Department of Transportation may expand its environmental study area to include a possible alignment for the Trans-Texas Corridor 35 along Highway 360, but TxDOT is neither confirming nor denying the change.
“Any changes could be made,” Kelli Petras, assistant public information officer for TxDOT, said. “We’re still holding all our public hearings on the TTC and nothing will be decided until all the meetings are over. We’re considering everything but right now TxDOT still has our same preferred corridor area.”
Currently, TxDOT’s preferred route for the north to south transportation corridor includes a route through Ellis County from Milford to east of Ferris.
The TTC 35 plan is the first phase of a much larger transportation plan envisioned by Gov. Rick Perry and TxDOT to provide high speed lanes for personal vehicles, trucks and rail to criss-cross the state over the next 50 years.
The roadways will be constructed using future tolls on the road.
The TTC 35 plan is still in the early design phase, with routes narrowed down to 10-mile wide environmental study areas, but after public hearings end in August, TxDOT will submit its proposal to the Federal Highway Administration for approval and then begin whittling down the areas of study to a 1,200 foot right-of-way that stretches from Laredo to the Texas-Oklahoma border.
According to TxDOT, the TTC 35 will use existing infrastructure whenever possible and, in some locations, two or more corridors may be used to carry rail, commercial trucks, personal vehicles and utilities from one end of the state to the other.
With TxDOT’s preferred alignment virtually cutting Ellis County in half, the Ellis County Commissioners Court joined the North Central Texas Council of Governments earlier this month in support of a resolution to move the corridor to the Highway 360 and Loop 9 corridors.
Ellis County, along with the cities of Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Dallas, Duncanville and Lancaster, have each passed resolutions recently supporting the Highway 360 alternative.
“The Regional Transportation Commission started looking a year and a half ago at adopting a preferred alignment for the TTC,” Lara Rodriguez, a spokesman for NCTCOG, said. “We wanted to address some of the congestion and air quality issues. We’ve been negotiating with TxDOT and TxDOT is not yet at the point of deciding a specific alignment but I believe we’ve come to an agreement with TxDOT for them to at least study the area in the Highway 360 and Loop 9 corridor.”
While TxDOT continues its public hearings on the alignment, members of the RTC have been at a number of the meetings and shared their preferred alignment.
“One thing to keep in mind is that anything significantly suggested or planned by the Metropolitan Planning Organization has to be signed off on by RTC,” Rodriguez said. “And in the same way, anything the RTC wants to do will have to be signed off on by TxDOT.”
But a clear answer from TxDOT may not be available until after public hearings have been completed, Aug. 21.
“There have been discussions between the NCTCOG and top level people at TxDOT,” Greg Royster, principal transportation engineer for NCTCOG, said. “They have said they would expand their study area to include the 360 corridor but there likely won’t be an announcement until the end of the public hearings, which is Aug. 21.”
“The COG has presented their idea at every public hearing,” Petras said. “We are considering what they’re saying but we’re not actually changing the study area. It may change or it may not change. But as of right now we’re not changing anything.”
More information on the TTC can be found at www.keeptexasmovingforward.com and http://www.nctcog.org/trans/goods/ttc.
j.blundell@waxahachiedailylight.com
© 2006 The Daily Light:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Wednesday, July 26, 2006
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