High Five Project built with greasy palms and sticky fingers.

High Five official fired over funds

He defends receiving $24,000 from company for barbecue expenses

April 7, 2006

By TONY HARTZEL
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006

The Texas Department of Transportation has fired one of its top engineers after investigating allegations that he mishandled funds related to the High Five interchange project.

Praxedis "Pete" Garza, once a rising star in the department, on Monday was relieved of his job as an area highway engineer supervising dozens of projects around northwest Dallas.

The termination letter from Bill Hale, Dallas district engineer, said Mr. Garza violated several department policies governing cellphone use and funding for occasional barbecues.

As area engineer over the High Five project, Mr. Garza was in a position to oversee Zachry Construction Corp.'s performance and recommend fines for contractual violations. Mr. Garza and a spokeswoman for Zachry, a San Antonio-based company, both said they had an informal arrangement to pay for the barbecues, which were designed to commemorate construction milestones and boost morale.

The informal arrangement called for Mr. Garza to pay all of the expenses for some barbecues from his personal bank accounts. Mr. Garza said he would then submit receipts to Zachry, which would issue a company check payable to him to cover all of the costs.

Zachry officials said they paid Mr. Garza a total of $24,000 over several years to reimburse him for barbecue costs.

"This was between me and Zachry," he said. "The state did not pay for anything. The contractor paid for all the barbecue costs, and me and the guys did all the work."

State officials said the arrangement violated long-standing policies against direct financial transactions between highway contractors and state employees.

The costs should have been split equally, with the contractor paying all barbecue expenses initially and the state reimbursing the contractor for half the cost, according to transportation department spokesman Mark Ball.

"The employee's acts were policy violations that ultimately led to his termination," he said.
Mr. Garza said he did most of the work cooking and preparing the meals for about 100 people. Therefore, he said he felt justified in accepting the Zachry checks for 100 percent of the barbecue costs.

"We put in labor and other costs," Mr. Garza said. "We weren't getting free food."

In some cases, Mr. Garza said, transportation department bookkeeper Rusty Everitt used personal funds to buy barbecue supplies. Zachry representatives would then issue Mr. Garza a company check, which he in turn would sign over to Mr. Everitt.

Mr. Ball, the transportation department spokesman, confirmed Thursday that Mr. Everitt had been under investigation and also was fired.

Mr. Everitt could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

Mr. Garza said he has receipts for all expenses. Regardless, payments from contractors directly to state employees should not have occurred, state officials said.

'Controls in place'

"I don't believe the contract said this was the way it should be handled," Mr. Ball said. "We have controls in place. If there was a gentleman's agreement in place on how that was done, that was not department policy."

Zachry officials agreed with Mr. Garza that two programs existed – a 50-50 cost-sharing for official celebrations and the arrangement in which the company reimbursed Mr. Garza personally for barbecues.

Expenses in the formal program totaled $38,000 during the 4 ½ -year High Five project at LBJ Freeway and Central Expressway, company spokeswoman Vicky Waddy said. Those costs were split evenly between Zachry and the state, she said.

Zachry also paid another $24,000 directly to Mr. Garza to pay for all the costs for the informal barbecues, Ms. Waddy said.

"It was payment based on expenses that were submitted with appropriate backup receipts," Ms. Waddy said. "We have backup materials that we submitted to TxDOT to support the checks we wrote to him."

The $24,000 was considered part of the "administrative costs of doing the job," Ms. Waddy said. The company will discuss the arrangement if the transportation department has a problem with it, Ms. Waddy added.

Transportation department officials said the investigation into Mr. Garza began when Mr. Hale, his boss, grew concerned about Mr. Garza's slow responses to routine matters. He ordered a management review of Mr. Garza and his office operations, which consists of 33 road projects valued at $405 million.

Cellphone concerns
The management review and a subsequent audit also revealed cash management concerns regarding mobile phone bills.

Zachry bought cellphones for state and company employees on the High Five project. Zachry paid the bills and then submitted invoices to the transportation department for reimbursement.

Problems arose when state employees exceeded the maximum number of minutes allowed on their plan, Mr. Garza said. He said the transportation department reimbursed Zachry only for its employees' normal cellphone usage. Mr. Garza said he and Mr. Everitt, the state bookkeeper, collected the overage charges.

Those payments, usually in cash, were supposed to go back to Zachry as reimbursement, Mr. Garza said. He said he and Zachry officials agreed that he could spend the money on donuts or informal barbecue dinners.

"The cellphone money was between me and Zachry. The barbecue money was between me and Zachry. This had nothing to do with TxDOT," Mr. Garza said.

Zachry officials had a different version of the cellphone arrangement.They said the state reimbursed the company for all of the mobile phone expenses, including any overage charges.
"What Mr. Garza did with the charges for employees who exceeded the minutes allowed on the plan, I don't know anything about it," Ms. Waddy said.

Mr. Garza said his supervisors also expressed concerns about him allowing Mr. Everitt to take a state vehicle home after work hours. He said the initial investigation began after several employees became upset about the vehicle use.

Top officials in the Dallas office of the transportation department reviewed all of the northwest Dallas area office projects that Mr. Garza supervised. They said last week that they found no indications that quality or safety was compromised.

E-mail thartzel@dallasnews.com

© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co www.dallasnews.com

"In my opinion, it’s a bad thing when they use government to take that much private property.”

Environmental study released; Trans-Texas Corridor leans east of Metroplex

April 07, 2006

Galen Scott
The Weatherford Democrat
Copyright 2006

An environmental impact study released Tuesday indicates the most likely route of the Trans-Texas Corridor will travel east of Dallas, but a new rail proposition could bring TTC-35 infrastructure to East Parker County as well.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, the narrowed eastern study area was identified as the preferred corridor alternative because it best supports the purpose and need for TTC-35.

“The ultimate goal of TTC-35 is to relieve traffic congestion on Interstate 35,” said Gabriela Garcia, TxDOT public affairs specialist.

The east corridor alternative also incorporates the most miles of existing highways and rail – 195 and 214 miles respectively.

Cintra Zachry, the firm hired to plan the TTC-35, announced a proposal last month to add a rail line around southwest Fort Worth. The rail line would divert heavy rail traffic at Tower 55, the Downtown switch yard visible form Interstate 30, and could eventually be accompanied by a toll road looping the southwestern edge of the city.

The proposed rail line would connect to the Trans-Texas Corridor, a $6 billion commuter, freight and utility line mega-project running the length of Texas, beginning at the Mexican border in Laredo and extending to Oklahoma.

In a February 24 Weatherford Democrat article, TxDOT regional engineer Jimmey Bodiford said freight and rail segments of the TTC-35 could affect residents of Parker and Palo Pinto Counties sooner than areas chosen for new passenger traffic infrastructure.

Bodiford may not have been too far off the mark.

Malcolm Louden, president of Walsh Holdings, said he didn’t know anything about the new rail line until Wednesday.

Louden’s group recently announced plans to build 14,000 homes on a 72-acre development, the majority of which is located in East Parker County. He agreed the rail line could intersect the billion dollar planned community.

A meeting took place Friday morning in which Louden said he met with Secretary of State Roger Williams and Burlington Northern Santa Fe CEO Matthew Rose.

“Our development is zoned limited purpose annex,” he said. “I just can’t believe nobody told us about this.”

Louden said he plans to meet with former Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr who was appointed to the Trans-Texas Corridor Advisory Committee by Perry last year.

The city of Aledo, in East Parker County, already has as many as 30 trains a day thundering through its limits. An additional rail line in the area could function as a nexus between a large system of freight lines in Palo Pinto County and the Metroplex.

“But the new rail line is subject to the same environmental draft statements that affect the TTC-35 project,” said Garcia, who is handling media inquiries for TxDOT.

She explained the new rail line was a very conceptual proposal, but admitted it is a viable option. She added population density was considered at every step in the planning process.

“But of [Lowden] hasn’t been part of the process by now, he now needs to jump in the process and make his points,” Garcia said.

In addition to the newly proposed rail line, the TTC-35 amounts to what Parker County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Webster called the largest single engineering contract in the United States today.

The Corridor’s western reasonable alternative would devour approximately one-third of East Parker County, Webster’s precinct, and extend about 15 miles into West Tarrant County.

From a business standpoint, the corridor promises the kind of large-scale economic vitality pulled along by interstate commerce. Large sums of private money, along with toll fees, are expected to function as part of the funding scheme associated with the project.

Gov. Rick Perry, who is facing criticism from the state’s business sector due to a proposed tax increase to help fund public schools, is supporting the project.

“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 in a news release.

According to an April 4 article in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, Cintra Zachry, the private firm hired to plan the Corridor, along with state and federal leaders, “declined to follow the recommendations of the Metroplex’s Regional Transportation Council, which proposed building the project through the heart of Dallas-Fort Worth — to complement, not replace, the existing transportation grid.”

But debate about the final route is far from over.

Garcia emphasized the difference between study areas, depicted on TTC-35 maps, and actual lines depicting a route.

“Putting lines on a map is still years away,” she said.

The latest environmental study tentatively identifies a 10-mile stripe across Texas. Opposition from organizations like Corridor Watch, a group devoted to challenging the wisdom of TTC-35, could affect further refinement of the route.

TTC developers are also facing criticism from environmental groups and private landowners. According to the latest environmental study, the corridor could impact the habitat of more than 46 threatened or endangered species and 2,400 square miles of prime farm land potentially lie in the project’s course.

Webster said he was thrilled TTC-35 appeared to be going east of the Metroplex instead of west, where he thinks it was originally planned to go.

“It was going to take up about 5,000 acres of Parker County land,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s a bad thing when they use government to take that much private property.”

Webster said the alternate western route would be bad for Parker County businesses because it does not include plans for easy on-off access and would function mostly as NAFTA trade route for semi trucks.

“It’s just a north-south road for trucks coming from the Mexican border,” he said.

TxDOT is planning more that 50 public hearings along the proposed corridor route this summer, in addition to hundreds of public hearings that have already taken place.

Garcia said there were TTC-35 public hearings held in and around Parker County during previous years, and TxDOT would likely be in Parker County again.

“It takes a long time to get there, but think about the scope of the process,” she said.

© 2006 The Weatherford Democrat: www.weatherforddemocrat.com

"I don’t see how the citizens of Cooke County can benefit from this corridor."

TxDOT announces TTC preferred corridor

Millions could be displaced by proposed highway

April 6 2006

Gainesville Daily Register
Copyright 2006

The 10-mile-wide swath is not the width of the road, corridor officials say, but the study area for places where the 1,200-foot wide road could be laid.

The TTC-35 tollway is an element of the Trans Texas Corridor, a proposed $184 billion web of thousands of miles of highways, service lanes, commuter rail lines, utilities portals, etc. Officials expect to complete most of the project by 2015.

Much of north central Texas would be affected by a proposed toll road stretching from Gainesville to Laredo, also affecting Denton, Ellis, Grayson and Dallas counties.

TTC-35 could take an estimated 2,800 acres in Cooke County, based on the 1,200-foot wide right-of-way.

Previous locations for a study area included areas in Western Cooke County. A former draft of an eastern route showed the tollway further to the east of Cooke County.

Gainesville City Manager Mike Land said there’s still much work to be done in studying the possible impact of the highway.

“We have to evaluate what the potential impact on the city,” he said. “Over the next few months we have the opportunity to do just that.”

He said though the roadway itself would be about 1,200 feet wide, it would be narrower in certain segments.

Precinct 2 Cooke County Commissioner Bill Cox said he prefers the tollway built in Cooke County rather than elsewhere.

“I’m In favor of it. I think it would allow us to grow,” Cox said. “You’re always concerned about your interests, and in getting on and off the road. As long as our residents could get on and off, I’m for it.”

Cox said he plans to attend more planning meetings for TTC-35.

“You know, growth is coming to Cooke County,” he said. “We don’t want the county to grow too quickly, but we should be prepared for it.”

Precinct 1 Cooke County Commissioner Gary Hollowell said he is in opposition to the plan as it stands now.

“I don’t see how the citizens of Cooke County can benefit from this corridor,” he said. “In some cases it will affect land that has been in families for generations. It’s going to remove property from tax rolls in my understanding. Today, there’s no revenues to be gained as far as the county is concerned.”

Hollowell continued: “It’s my understanding it’s going to be a limited-access thoroughfare. So the local businesses would not benefit.”

Charles Holloway, superintendent of the Callisburg ISD, said taxpayers in his district should not be alarmed at this point, but on the other hand should begin to educate themselves so they can give informative input to the state.

“Looking at the plan right now it would have a direct effect on our school system,” he said. “... But it’s one of those things that’s probably needed. Just look at the last few days’ worth of accidents.”

He added: “My concern, and my action as superintendent, is we’re going to follow closely and we’re going to monitor it.”

Tommy Tucker, principal and superintendent of the Walnut Bend School, said the preferred route is a little to the north of his district and wouldn’t affect his school much, as long as there were access under the tollway.

“It’s not going to be where we’ll have all these new eating businesses and gas stations along it. So from a business aspect I don’t see an advantage,” he said. “On the other hand, it may not have much of a deficit, because it includes people who aren’t going to be stopping anyway.”

He said a major disadvantage to the plan would be the disruption of the rural surroundings of the area.

County Judge Bill Freeman said its still early in the game. He said the pros and cons are still being debated about the tollway, but he remains skeptical of its effects on agriculture.

“I’m concerned about a right-of-way that would come through the county and take farms and ranches, and any of the tax base of the county,” he said. “It’s not going to happen in my time, but its certainly something everyone is going to have to get together on.”

In previous community input meetings on the project Cooke County residents expressed concern that there would be few underpasses or entrance or exit ramps, which may divide the county.

Pat Peale, Lake Kiowa resident and political activist, said she has been involved in monitoring the project since she first heard of it.

“About 8 years ago or so, the North Dallas Tollway Commission was being formed. I spoke to Sen. (Tom) Haywood and expressed the desire for Cooke County to be represented on the Commission, maybe not as a voting member, but having a presence so that we could have a voice in what might be coming this way. At the time the legislature was forming the commission, and it was easier to put Cooke County on the Commission than to try and do it later.

“I spoke to commissioners (Richard) Brown, (Virgil) Hess and (Jerry) Lewis. They were not interested. One of the Commissioners commented ‘We will never see it in our lifetime!’”

“Well, here it is our lifetime, and it is happening. We could have been there at the beginning and had a voice. I hope we have a voice now!”

She said as far as the highway possibly enveloping Lake Kiowa, there could be serious eminent domain problems.

“We missed the chance on Lake Ray Roberts and economic development,” Peale continued. “This can be a plus for the County, but it may also have its drawbacks if we don’t get in there and be a part.”

According to the Associated Press, about half of those in an proposed study area are racial minorities, and nearly a quarter are below the poverty level, according to a 4,000-page draft environmental study by the Federal Highway Administration released this week.

Many rural farmers worried about losing large chunks of land have opposed the plan. If the corridor is 1,200 feet wide in some areas as planned, a farmer could lose as much as 146 acres per mile, according a statement from the Texas Farm Bureau.

The federal impact study reports the 521-mile tollway could impact the home of 46 plants or animals named on threatened or endangered species lists.

Thirteen square miles of parks could be affected, in addition.

In 2004, Spanish consortium Cintra-Zachary signed a $3.5 million project development agreement with the state to help plan the corridor.

About 50 public hearings are scheduled to give residents a closer look at the new, prefered study area plan.

The Trans-Texas Cooridor Web site, KeepTexasMoving.com, placed increased highway transportation options as a “need.”

The site said: “The current population of our state is about 22 million. By 2030, forecasters predict we’ll have as many as 36 million people who live, work and drive in Texas. The majority will move to our urban areas, where we simply cannot expand our existing highway system fast enough to accommodate transportation demands (Some cities will need 16-lane highways or more to adequately meet their needs).

“Often, where limited room is available for expansion, the costs to purchase and relocate businesses and homes have skyrocketed. In short, the current system of building and funding roads will not meet Texas’ needs 25 or 50 years from now. It will take new solutions.”

The Web site CooridorWatch.org opposes the project.

“The singular focus of the Corridor plan is to build corridors that connect regions of the state intentionally bypassing urban centers. Those metropolitan areas are left to deal with their own traffic and mobility problems, including access to the Corridor. Since our large cities are the traffic generators the Corridor will offer little if any relief,” the site said.

On the Net:

For a map of the prefered study area, see: www.corridorwatch.org


© 2006 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. www.gainesvilleregister.com

"I think we have more than a transportation problem. We have a leadership and integrity problem."

TTC-35 Study Area Too Far East For Officials

April 6, 2006

The Hillsboro Reporter
Copyright 2006

Taking the concept of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) to the next level, state officials held a press conference at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Tuesday morning, April 4, to announce a route study area for TTC-35, the Interstate 35 leg of the system.

Representatives from the Texas Transportation Commission, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) made the announcement.

Release of the study area completes the initial work on the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) process that started in early 2004.

Governor Rick Perry has proposed the corridor system to handle truck and car traffic, passenger and freight rail lines and utilities.

TxDOT was charged with devising a plan to identify a 1,200-foot corridor to handle all the transportation needs.

The FWHA signed off on the 4,000-page DEIS Tuesday morning prior to the press conference.

But the study area that cuts across the southeast part of the county and then east of Dallas wasn't what officials across North Central Texas was looking for.

City of Hillsboro officials had pushed to have the area located close to the existing I-35 roadway.

The North Texas Council of Governments supported a study area that would also bring the route close to Hillsboro and then up through the center of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex along Highway 360.

Members of the River of Trade Corridor Coalition, which is made up of cities and counties along the traditional I-35 NAFTA trade corridor, blasted the state's proposal at a second news conference.

Among the Hill County delegation on hand for the announcement were members of the commissioners' court, Hillsboro City Council and local economic-development officials.

The study area stretches from just northwest of Hubbard to near Bynum, based on the state's map. It apparently includes the cities of Mount Calm, Penelope, Malone, Irene and Mertens.

With the study area eight to 10 miles east of Hillsboro, Mayor Will Lowrance told the crowd that the location "would kill us. It's too far east.

"We were hoping for a route that would allow travelers to exit and support our retail or commercial venues."

While the mayor was concerned about the map and the environmental impact statement, he was much more concerned about the secrecy of the process itself.

"The process overlooked local input," he said. "Where is our Open Records Act. Since when does federal environmental regulations trump our Open Records Act?

"I think we have more than a transportation problem. We have a leadership and integrity problem."

The mayor urged residents to contact their legislators.

"In the first press conference, you heard (Texas Transportation Commission) Commissioner (Ric) Williamson say that 'Rick Perry made up his mind to solve the transportation problem.' I think Texans want to be involved in finding a solution," he added.

Dallas County Commissioner Ken Mayfield described the public meetings conducted by TxDOT leading up to the DEIS as "art shows," because there was no official public input.

"This (study area) is no where near what the North Texas Council of Governments approved," Mayfield said.

The commissioner then attacked Williamson for diverting gas-tax revenue away from TxDOT while he served in the Texas Legislature in the mid-1980s.

Dallas City Council member Bill Blaydes said that a corridor passing well east of Dallas would draw jobs and economic development away from his city.

He challenged the media to compare what happened in cities like Terrell after Interstate 20 bypassed the town.

Hillsboro could be put in that same boat when the I-35 bypass was built in the 1960s and businesses along Waco Street closed.

The announcement of the study area triggers a round of 53 public hearings along the route.

Dates of those hearings are expected to be announced by TxDOT over the next couple of weeks.

© 2006 The Hillsboro Reporter: www.hillsbororeporter.com

"Members of TxDOT continue to play games with State Highway 121."

Stand up for lower tolls

There are viable alternatives to selling out, says Chris Moss

Thursday, April 6, 2006

The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006

People sometimes suspect that politicians or government officials are playing games with certain issues, but it isn't often that you find convincing evidence that they are.

State officials are playing games with State Highway 121, and it seems Frisco city leaders have called them on it.

Get familiar with the acronym "CDA," which stands for Comprehensive Development Agreement and relates to building new highways as toll roads. This has become a code word for taxes in the form of tolls that go to Austin. It is "Robin Hood" for highways.

State Highway 121 stretches from downtown Fort Worth, northeast to U.S. Highway 75 in McKinney and beyond and was designed and built as a free highway. It has been primarily a two-lane road for many years, but explosive growth has required expansion to a freeway.

Despite a gasoline tax that all Texans pay of 38.4 cents per gallon, mismanagement of state funds has left the state with insufficient money to build the critical infrastructures that are needed today.

Recently, local officials were advised by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) that funding was still insufficient to build State Highway 121 as a free road, and that the only solution was tolls. Local officials initially balked at this idea, as you might expect, given all the time, land and money that had already been donated to the project – donations that were made based on representations that the road would be a free road.

After working with TxDOT for some time, local officials realized that there would not be sufficient funds available from the state and that the only solution to building the desperately needed expansion would be to make State Highway 121 a toll road.

However, local officials were measured in their acquiescence; they insisted that the tolls for State Highway 121 should be kept low and would only pay for the design and construction of State Highway 121 and its ongoing operation and maintenance expenses. They did not want tolls going to fund other projects.

That's where pushback from TxDOT began.

Enter the concept of the CDA, which is the privatization of a highway. Under a CDA, a private, for-profit company would construct and manage a highway and have exclusive rights to the revenue stream of all tolls collected from the highway it manages.

You see, TxDOT officials see State Highway 121 as a gold mine to solve its financial woes. It is being referred to as the "Golden Corridor." Utilizing a private company to manage the road, it would be free to "charge what the market will bear."

Members of TxDOT continue to play games with State Highway 121. Despite a completely viable alternative plan from the North Texas Tollway Authority, the organization created by the state to manage complicated highway projects like this one, TxDOT wants to accept bids from private companies under CDAs.

In other words, the revenue stream from tolls you and I will pay is for sale to the highest bidder. It would be in the state's and CDA's best interests to charge the highest tolls possible.

What makes this so obvious is not just the words and actions of members of TxDOT's commission, but the fact that the NTTA proposal is public record, while the CDA bids will be sealed. Staff from the city of Frisco, as well as Mayor Mike Simpson, approached TxDOT to try to communicate with officials about the local preferences and participate in the process.

However, TxDOT commission members treated them quite shabbily, and now Frisco has set withdrawn support for the entire plan, and people need to ask their cities to do the same. It seems clear that TxDOT would like to force high tolls upon us, if they can keep our local officials quiet enough. This is the first stand being taken in Texas against this ill-conceived tactic, and we need to make sure our voices are sufficiently loud.

This is where the public comes in. If you want to avoid high taxes, please contact your state representative and senator, as well as your city council members, and let them know you want the NTTA plan to be used. Even better, contact Gov. Rick Perry's office at 800-252-9600 and voice your concern. It's up to us. For more information, please visit www.121-info.com.

Chris Moss is a Frisco resident. His e-mail address is chris@eaglebendlane. com.

© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co www.dallasnews.com

"Our next big opportunity is rapidly taking shape, and that's Trans-Texas Corridor 69."

Corridor portion would not affect area counties

April 5, 2006

Staff Report
The Victoria Advocate
Copyright 2006

The portion of the Trans-Texas Corridor about which the accompanying AP story is concerned, known as TTC-35, would run along the I-35 corridor from the Dallas area in North Texas to Laredo, as the story says.

TTC-35 would not impact any of the counties in the Victoria Advocate's circulation area.

Maps of the proposed routes of TTC-35 can be viewed at www.keeptexasmoving.com

The portion of the Trans-Texas Corridor that would run through the Victoria area is known as TTC/I-69.

Upon the unveiling Tuesday of the TTC-35 draft report, which refines the study area for the TTC-35 corridor's route and concludes that increased freight traffic and growing congestion compound the need for additional transportation alternatives within the I-35 corridor, Texas Transportation Commissioner John Johnson mentioned the TTC/I-69 portion of the corridor.

"Today's announcement validates the strength of this concept. Our next big opportunity is rapidly taking shape, and that's Trans-Texas Corridor 69," Johnson said.

In December 2005, Gov. Perry instructed Texas Department of Transportation to partner with the private sector to develop TTC/I-69, an interstate-quality highway corridor with additional rail freight capacity that connects the Lower Rio Grande River Valley to I-37 and continues along the south and east portions of Texas from Corpus Christi through Victoria and Houston all the way to northeast Texas.

TxDOT officials have said the possible routes for the TTC/I-69 corridor are still being studied and that it will take at least another five years to pick the final routes and begin land acquisitions.

© 2006 The Victoria Advocate: www.thevictoriaadvocate.com

"Path includes San Marcos' extraterritorial jurisdiction and a large portion of Caldwell County."

Trans Texas Corridor could cut close to home

Apr 05, 2006

By ANITA MILLER
San Marcos Daily Record
Copyright 2006

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) on Tuesday unveiled a narrower area through which the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC) could be built. The possible path includes parts of San Marcos' extraterritorial jurisdiction and a large portion of neighboring Caldwell County.

The “recommended preferred alternative” was released at a Dallas press conference. It laid out a 10-mile swath from Laredo to the Oklahoma border that is at place only a few miles east of IH-35, the highway that the TTC toll road is being planned to reduce congestion on.

The route does not enter Hays County but the western edge of the alternative is somewhere about halfway between Texas Hwy. 21 and FM 142.

TxDOT's announcement came after the completion of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) conducted by the Federal Highway Administration. The DEIS also found that more than 2,400 square miles of prime farm land are included in the proposed route and that the project could displace almost a million residents.

The 4,000 page DEIS also found that about half of those who live within the 10-mile projected path are minorities and almost a quarter of the households are below the poverty line.

According to the Associated Press, the entire 541 miles of the tollway could impact 13 square miles of parkland and the habitat of 46 threatened or endangered plants and animals. The TTC would be built and operated by the Spanish firm Cintra and Zachry Construction Company. TxDOT says it hopes the roadway will be open by 2015. Its proposed total cost is $184 billion, the AP said.

Tuesday's announcement was of completion of the first tier of the route selection process. Dozens of public meetings will be scheduled this summer to gather public input along the proposed route.

The plan for the quarter-mile-wide project, which would include separate lanes for passenger vehicles and large trucks, freight railways, high-speed railways and infrastructure for utilities including water, oil and transmission lines for electricity, broadband and other services.

It has been spearheaded by Gov. Rick Perry. His Democratic challenger Chris Bell, along with Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman, both of whom hope to make November's ballots as Independents, have opposed it. In a news release just hours after the press conference on Tuesday, Strayhorn's campaign issued a statement calling the proposed route “the beginning of the largest land grab in Texas history” that “runs down the heart of Texas.”

TxDOT says IH-35 will reach capacity by 2025 even after planned improvements are made; and that 45 percent Texas' 21 million residents already live within 50 miles of the north/south interstate.

Strong opposition has come from rural residents and farmers. The organization Corridor Watch was founded a few years back to fight the TTC.

For more information visit txdot.state.tx.us and/or corridorwatch.org

© 2006 San Marcos Daily Record www.sanmarcosrecord.com

"It is going to raise a big stink."

Rural residents steamed about the plan

4/05/2006

Roger Croteau
San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2006

NEW BERLIN — Somewhere in the sandy hills of scattered mesquite and live oak, Gov. Rick Perry's dream of a 1,200-foot-wide corridor of highways and rail lines could become a reality.

A large swath of Guadalupe County is included in the state's recommended corridor option for the Trans-Texas Corridor route from Oklahoma to Mexico.

But Perry's dream is a nightmare to many residents who call rural Guadalupe County home. They see an unwanted behemoth ripping apart farms and communities.

"Rick Perry should be fired," said Nicole Marcell, tending bar at The Bend in the hamlet of Olmos. "They should leave my county alone."

Over by the video poker machine, Jimmy Lenz, who owns 100 acres in the area, studied the map closely.

"I think it's going to ruin everything, as far as agriculture is concerned," he said. "People make money off the land out here. You can put in the paper that my property is for sale right now, in case any investors want to come out and buy it up. I'll get out before they start building it."

The specific route of TTC-35, as it's called, is far from settled. But the map of corridor options gives a general idea of where the project will go.

County Judge Don Schraub said he is almost certain the route will follow the proposed path of planned Texas 130 from Interstate 10 to the north edge of the county. That project, which was to run from Georgetown to I-10, is expected to become part of TTC-35.

Landowners in the Texas 130 route already have been notified they are in the path of the new roadway, although the TTC-35 right of way is expected to be 200 feet wider than what they were expecting.

"The ranchers still don't like it, and I don't blame them," Schraub said. "Some of those families have been there for generations. You don't want to give up great-grandpa's place. If it was my land, I'd probably be jumping up and down squalling too.

"By the same token, people had to give up land for Interstate 10. That's the cost of progress."

Schraub said he expects relatively few landowners to be affected south of I-10.

"That area was never settled very heavily because of the poor, sandy soil," he said. "Your cow will eat all day and starve to death out there."

Sidney Bauer, a member of the Seguin Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee, saw the ruckus created by the Texas 130 planning process and expects things to get more intense.

Texas "130 was going to be quite a project," he said. "It was controversial enough. This Trans-Texas project is going to be even more controversial. It is going to raise a big stink."

But even some of those potentially in the path see the need for Perry's big idea.

"They've got to do something," said Robert Bronstad, another patron at The Bend. "Have you driven to Austin lately?"

rcroteau@express-news.net

© 2006 San Antonio Express-News: www.mysanantonio.com

TTC-35 will cross Eastern Williamson County

Preferred TTC path released

By David King
Taylor Daily Press
Copyright 2006

Trans-Texas Corridor crosses Eastern Williamson County

A draft environmental report outlining the preferred path of the Trans-Texas Corridor was released Tuesday, and while some Eastern Williamson County residents are relieved, others are not.

The report was prepared by the Texas Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration. According to TxDOT, it identifies a narrowed study area from Gainesville to Laredo, generally about 10 miles wide and close to or on top of I-35.

As the preferred path crosses Central Texas, it carves a swath of Eastern Williamson County, largely centered on SH 130.

The preferred path “best supports the purpose and need for TTC-35 and incorporates the most miles of existing highways and rail,” according to a TxDOT press release.

It also alleviates some of the fears of those around Coupland who oppose the project.

“From Coupland's point of view there's room for at least a small sigh of relief,” Buz Garry, president of the Coupland Civic Organization, said.

The preferred path lays west of Coupland, although the alternative route still encompasses part of the area surrounding the small farming community.

“We're not totally out of the woods,” Garry said.

He said although Coupland landowners are relieved they dodged a potential land grab to gain right of way for the corridor, he still has objections to the Trans-Texas Corridor because he thinks paying for the expensive construction project could fall on Texas taxpayers.

“I still think it's a terrible idea and I don't wish it on anybody,” he said.

Louis Repa of Granger also opposes the project, but his concern is more immediate.

The preferred path crosses one of his farms and would destroy it, he said.

“I'm very opposed to it,” he said.

“It's just going to be such a detriment to the Granger area.”

In addition to cutting a swath through farmland, the Trans-Texas Corridor also will make it difficult for people to travel east and west because of limited access to the highway and a proposed high-speed rail component.

Repa said at least one Granger business would be hurt because people who live west of the corridor would not be able to get farm equipment to it for repairs. Commuters who live in Granger but work in Round Rock or Georgetown and use CR 971 also would have to travel to SH 29 or the proposed Chandler Road to cross the corridor.

He also said access is a concern for the fire department and emergency services. One third of the volunteer department's service area could lie west of the corridor.

“It's going to make it hard for us to get over there if we have to service people,” he said.

Repa also said property without access will lose its value.

According to TxDOT, the benefits outweigh the concerns.

“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 in the TxDOT release.

Although the draft environmental report is required for the project to move forward its findings are not final and will be subject to more than 50 public hearings along the I-35 corridor this summer, according to TxDOT.

“After more than two years of analysis, the question regarding the need for TTC-35 is now well documented,” Michael Behrens, TxDOT executive director, stated in the release, referring to a section of the report that states reasons the corridor should be built. “We have to stay focused on the ultimate goal - making a positive impact to the I-35 corridor and improving statewide mobility for the next 30-50 years.”

“Texas has a transportation problem and we have a plan to solve the problem,” said Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, in the TxDOT release. “Our strategic plan contains long-term, mid-term and short-term tactics. Building TTC-35 is one of our long-term tactical decisions to reduce congestion, enhance safety, expand economic opportunity, improve air quality and preserve the value of IH-35.”

Copyright © 2006 Taylor Daily Press: www.taylordailypress.net

In the path of TTC-35: 48% are minorities and 24% are below the poverty line.

Study shows road's possible path

Apr. 05, 2006

By GORDON DICKSON
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Copyright 2006

D/FW AIRPORT -- More than 2,400 square miles of prime farmland, 13 square miles of parks and 63 landfills are potentially in the path of a proposed toll road from North Texas to Laredo, according to an environmental study released Tuesday.

Nearly 1 million Texans live in the study area, which closely parallels Interstate 35 from San Antonio to Waco, and Interstate 35E east of Dallas to Gainesville. At least 46 threatened or endangered plant and animal species call it home, too.

Those are among the details in a draft environmental impact statement released by the Federal Highway Administration.

The document brings Texas Department of Transportation officials closer to their goal of opening the futuristic tollway by 2015. A private team, Cintra Zachry, has been hired to plan the $6 billion highway. The mission is to relieve congestion and move much of the heavy truck traffic from the Interstate 35 corridor across the state.

But North Texas officials aren't happy that Cintra Zachry, and state and federal leaders declined to follow the recommendations of the Metroplex's Regional Transportation Council, which proposed building the project through the heart of Dallas-Fort Worth -- to complement, not replace, the existing transportation grid.

"We are very disappointed that the focus appears to be where it is, and that's east of the Metroplex," Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce President Bill Thornton said after the 4,000-page environmental document was unveiled at the Grand Hyatt DFW hotel at D/FW Airport.

"Our responsibility is to make sure the western part of the Metroplex story is told, and we're going to make sure that's done," he said. "We're going to offer up recommendations that, quite frankly, they can't say no to."

Final approval of the first Trans-Texas environmental study is not expected for at least a year -- and then a second, more detailed study would be conducted to choose a precise location for the road. Right now, it could be built anywhere within a 10-mile-wide path.

The paperwork process could last until 2011, then construction would take several more years, officials said.

More than 50 public hearings will be held in cities along I-35 beginning in June, including at least five in and around Tarrant County, officials said.

The study didn't address a proposed rail line around southwest Fort Worth, which Cintra Zachry announced last month that it wanted to add to the project. That rail line would relieve freight-train gridlock in Tarrant County, especially at Tower 55 near downtown Fort Worth, and could eventually be accompanied by a toll road looping around the southwestern edge of Fort Worth, said Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson, of Weatherford.

State officials will seriously consider changing the Trans-Texas route to reflect the Metroplex's wishes after hearing testimony from Texans this summer, Williamson said.

"It's never been our intention to divide the state into factions," Williamson said.

However, in making decisions about the location of the toll road, the goal will be to improve mobility statewide, he said.

"We are stewards of the entire transportation system," Williamson said. "The best interests of the state will always trump what's in the best interests of a community along the way."

It's not practical to continue expanding I-35, agency director Michael Behrens said.

"Due to economic development along the interstate, space for expansion is limited," he said.

After Tuesday's announcement, opponents held their own news conference in an adjacent hotel conference room. Many are members of the Dallas NAFTA Trade Corridor Coalition, which prefers to keep truck traffic on Metroplex highways.

Bill Blaydes, a Dallas City Council member, described the Trans-Texas Corridor as a "transfer of wealth" from the Metroplex to rural areas.

Dallas County Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield said he was surprised Cintra Zachry didn't embrace North Texas' regional plan.

"We are sorely disappointed," he said. "We gave our input. It was apparently ignored."

Other facts in the study:

The toll road would be 521 miles long. Most of it would be new road, but the project would incorporate an existing portion of I-35 from San Antonio to Laredo.

Of the 980,667 people who live in the path, 48 percent are minorities and 24 percent are below the poverty level.

The route includes five federally recognized historic sites of 23 acres or greater.

The route would traverse three major and six minor aquifers.

Texans who want to read the environmental study can access it online at www.dot.state.tx.us -- but be warned, including appendices, it's about 4,000 pages long.

Residents can click on maps and see how close their property is to the route, which has now been narrowed to about 10 miles.

Paper copies of the study will be available at area libraries within days, state officials say.

Source: Texas Dept. of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration
Gordon Dickson, (817) 685-3816 gdickson@star-telegram.com

© 2006 Fort Worth Star-Telegram: www.dfw.com

“We can’t just lay down and cry about this.”

Family wary of their farm possibly in TTC's path

April 05, 2006

By Mike Anderson
Waco Tribune-Herald
Copyright 2006

For 132 years, the Whatley family farm has been surrounded by quiet countryside a few miles east of Bruceville-Eddy. That soon could change in the name of progress.

The draft environmental impact statement for the Trans-Texas Corridor released Tuesday finds the land in the middle of a 10-mile zone that likely will host the transportation route.

News that the state’s preferred corridor route could pass through their 500-acre farm did not sit well with Calvin and Julia Whatley. The farm has belonged to the family since William Thomas Whatley bought the first section for 500 gold dollars in 1874, the couple said. That first Whatley resident is buried a couple of miles away at the Blevins Cemetery, also in the 10-mile zone.

“He died young, and his wife always thought it was all of the hard work that he put into building up this land that killed him,” Julia Whatley said. “I’m afraid if he knew what we learned today, he would think all of his hard work was in vain.”

The couple, both 82, have worked the farm since the 1950s, and they have lived there since 1974.

They have made it no secret that they oppose the corridor and its champion, Gov. Rick Perry. The governor has promoted the corridor as a means to handle anticipated growth in trade and Texas’ population, as a way to alleviate Interstate 35 congestion and as as valuable tool to help prevent terrorist attacks or other disasters.

Perry’s campaign manager, Robert Black, said Tuesday that it is too early to know where the corridor will go, but he said the governor has worked to ensure that those whose property is affected by the toll road will receive royalties from the revenue it will generate.

Those arguments mean little to the couple, who have joined the Blackland Coalition in Bell County in speaking out against the proposal.

Calvin Whatley said Tuesday that he believes the state could meet anticipated growth by widening Interstate 35. State transportation officials have dismissed such an action as not viable given that cities such as Bruceville-Eddy are centered just yards from the interstate.

Whatley said he plans to keep fighting against the proposal with all he has.

“We always have to keep up hope that all the work hundreds of people have put in against this thing might still change the plans,” he said. “We can’t just lay down and cry about this.”

manderson@wacotrib.com

757-5741

© 2006 Cox Newspapers, L.P. - The Waco Tribune-Herald www.wacotrib.com

Northeast Texas RMA marketing campaign will promote tolling on Loop 49

Regional mobility authority chooses financial advisers

April 05,, 2006

By JIMMY ISAAC
Longview News-Journal
Copyright 2006

TYLER — The Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority secured two investment and brokerage firms Tuesday to become the board's financial advisers.

Estrada Hinojosa Investment Bankers and First Southwest Co./Southwest Securities were asked to join forces in counseling and advocating for the RMA in future bond acquisitions to fund highway projects such as Loop 49 in Smith County and Texas 42 improvements and George Richey Road expansion in Gregg County.

Estrada Hinojosa Vice President David G. Gordon told the board he believed his firm could do the job itself but was hopeful the companies could forge a comprehensive effort for the RMA.

Estrada Hinojosa has amassed a total advisory volume of $30.6 billion and is the pre-eminent Hispanic-owned investment banking firm in the nation, according to its Web site.

First Southwest, with more than 1,600 clients in its 60th year of operation, is the third-largest adviser according to the 2005 national Financial Advisory Rankings. It had made a combined bid with Southwest Securities to RMA members.

Both firms have offices in Texas and have served other East Texas entities.

The RMA turned down bids from RBC Capital Markets, although Finance Chairman Gary Holbrooks was complimentary of all three bids. He said the board wanted advisers who understand the area and have great local presence.

The three selected firms were asked to reply to the RMA's legal counsel, Brian Cassidy, by April 17 to confirm whether the joint effort could be reached.

"I think we're blossoming faster than I think any of us ever thought we would," Holbrooks said. "I think we can draw great strength from both of those firms to help us move forward."

Texas 42 became the subject of discussion earlier in the meeting after Texas Department of Transportation engineer Mike Battles said he had received 12 letters of interest from prospective consultants for future widening and upgrade of the highway between White Oak and Kilgore.

"We want to make sure we know what the cost of the project is ... so that the RMA has all the answers," said Battles, who also noted that the mobility board's interest in the project has ignited the Transportation Department's interest.

Texas 42 was considered among the department's long-range planning goals when the RMA formed last April. A $15 million allocation from the Longview Metropolitan Planning Organization and continued RMA dialogue with state and regional officials has initiated talks of the road being widened and also extended with George Richey Road in northern Gregg County, all within the next decade.

Longview Senior Transportation Planner Karen Owen said she'd like to see all three efforts — Texas 42 widening from U.S. 80 to Interstate 20, south to Texas 31 and a connection with George Richey Road to Texas 300 — as one package.

"I think we ask for the whole thing," concurred RMA chairman Jeff Austin III.

Battles also announced that Loop 49's first segment, between Texas 69 and Texas 155 in south Tyler, could have its grand opening before area schools begin their fall semester. The loop is the first toll road approved for the region and is expected to generate revenue that will help fund other projects. Tolls for Loop 49 have not been set.

"We are actively beginning looking at our marketing campaign to promote tolling on Loop 49," Battles said.

© 2006 Longview News-Journal www.news-journal.com

TTC-35 could displace nearly 1 million residents

Trans Texas Plan Unacceptable To Some Leaders

April 4, 2006

Clif Caldwell Reporting
CBS 11 News (Dallas-Fort-Worth)
Copyright 2006

NORTH TEXAS A proposed toll road stretching from North Texas to Laredo could affect more than 2,400 square miles of prime farm land and displace nearly 1 million residents, according to a federal report released Tuesday.

About half of those in the path of the $6 billion project are minorities and nearly a quarter are below the poverty level. The findings were included in a 4,000-page draft environmental study by the Federal Highway Administration.

The tollway, which officials hope to open by 2015, is part of the Trans Texas Corridor, a $184 billion plan to build thousands of miles of highways, railways and utilities crisscrossing the state.

Part of the purpose of the plan is to cut down the amount of traffic on already-overloaded I-35. A state transportation study says in 20 years, there will be 132% more trucks on the highway than there are today.

The plan has widespread support among business owners and government officials, but not in its current version.

Ric Williamson, with the Texas Transportation Commission, said, "We believe the I-35 corridor is the single most important economic generator in the state of Texas." The version of the plan released today would put the road far east of Dallas, near Terrell and Greenville.

Dallas City Council member Bill Blaydes says that route is too far from the metro area. He said, "We will not be accepting the plan as it currently exists."

Instead, Blaydes and some other North Texas leaders want to use Highway 360 in Arlington and Mansfield as the route through North Texas.

Some rural farmers are opposed to the plan. They are worried about losing large chunks of land. If the corridor is 1,200 feet wide in some areas as planned, a farmer could lose as much as 146 acres per mile, according to the Texas Farm Bureau.

The federal study also reports the 521-mile tollway could impact the home of 46 threatened or endangered plant and animal species. Thirteen square miles of parks could be affected, too.

The plan calls for the 10-mile-wide corridor to begin at the Red River and skirt around the eastern side of Dallas County before running parallel along Interstate 35.

In 2004, Spanish consortium Cintra-Zachary signed a $3.5 million project development agreement with the state to help plan the corridor.

About 50 public hearings are scheduled around the state to give residents a closer look at the plan.

Last month, more than 700 residents attended a meeting with gubernatorial hopefuls in Seaton, about 60 miles north of Austin and near the path of the corridor. Democratic nominee Chris Bell and independent candidates Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman blasted the plan. Gov. Rick Perry, who supports the tollroad, did not attend.

© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. cbs11tv.com

"Our position is fundamentally unchanged. We are opposed to the corridor."

State wants corridor to shadow I-35

Trans-Texas road and rail route narrowed to 10-mile-wide study area

April 4, 2006

By TONY HARTZEL
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006

A coordinated network of new toll roads, rail lines and utility lines should be built on or very near one of the main concrete arteries of Texas commerce, according to a new report and study released Tuesday.

Texas transportation officials have chosen "a study area" closely associated with Interstate 35 as the preferred route for the so-called Trans-Texas Corridor.

Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, said the gigantic public works project would help ease terrible traffic congestion on I-35 as the population continues to grow.

"The Interstate 35 corridor is the single most important economic generator in the state of Texas," Mr. Williamson said. "We would not have pursued this solution if we were not convinced that this is the best solution and the only solution."

The 4,300-page draft environmental report represents a significant early step in a long process that could lead to construction of the Trans-Texas Corridor. At the earliest, a toll road or freight rail line could open in about 10 years. State highway officials and the project's private developers do not have any plans to build passenger rail lines in the foreseeable future.

The draft report, two years in the making, narrows the corridor's potential location to a 10-mile-wide study area that, in part, clips the southeast corner of Dallas County, runs just east of Lake Ray Hubbard and winds through much of Rockwall County.
Local concerns

Local leaders throughout the state – and particularly in North Texas – have expressed worries that the study area would be too far away from urban areas, effectively drawing new development away from cities and increasing traffic in rural areas.

Dallas City Council member Bill Blaydes said if the corridor is built in the proposed study area, it would do nothing for southern Dallas, which is underdeveloped and would benefit greatly from a closer corridor location. "We will not accept the plan as it currently exists," he said.

In addition, a route as far away as central Kaufman County or Rockwall County could entice existing manufacturing and freight businesses to move farther east, Mr. Blaydes said.

State highway officials say it would be impractical or impossible to put a 1,200-foot-wide corridor through the urban landscape in Dallas.

The proposed route area was a closely held secret until Tuesday morning. Local leaders were not briefed before the unveiling.

The state did conduct 117 public meetings and received more than 4,000 videotaped or written comments, said Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Gaby Garcia.

But Dallas County Commissioner Maurine Dickey said the state should have held formal public hearings to take testimony about route options.

"I'm sorry to say our neighbors in Austin feel like they should have more input than the people in North Texas," Ms. Dickey said.

Ms. Garcia, however, said, "Public input is public input."

As proposed in the report, the corridor will run 521 miles from Gainesville on the Red River to Laredo on the Rio Grande. In areas where roads, rail and utility lines are built together, the corridor will be 800 to 1,200 feet wide.

The challenge for state leaders may be balancing the needs of a statewide corridor with the interests of North Texas. The largest part of that challenge will lie in how the state or project developers connect the main corridor study route with urban areas.

State officials say that North Texas leaders have come up with good ideas to connect Dallas to the proposed road and rail corridor.

Those ideas include construction of toll roads along a State Highway 360 southern extension and along a long-planned Loop 9 in southern Dallas County.

"I want to tell anyone who will listen that we are not opposed to that route," Mr. Williamson said. Project developers "are not going to build a road that doesn't have interconnecting facilities."

In the new plan, the state has designated almost all of North Texas as a "modal transition zone" where road and rail connections can run directly from urban areas around Dallas into the corridor project to the east.

Rockwall County leaders have anticipated the Trans-Texas Corridor coming through their area since the idea was first raised, Commissioner Bruce Beaty said.

"If you're a resident and in the path, it's going to be a bad thing," Mr. Beaty said. "In the long run, it'll probably be good. We keep talking about economic development, and this is something that could help us."

Rockwall and Collin counties are working on a long-term highway project that they hope will eventually mesh with the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor.

"It [the corridor] is a wide swath," said Collin County Commissioner Joe Jaynes. "If it does happen, there will be some issues to work on."

The public will have its say on the corridor this summer, when the Texas Department of Transportation holds more than 50 public hearings on the draft report. A report outlining the final study area is expected in mid-2007.

After the 10-mile-wide study area is finalized, the state then may begin environmental reviews of specific projects. To build the toll roads from San Antonio to Dallas, for example, is expected to involve about six separate projects.

In general, those detailed reviews can take an average of almost four years to complete, said Doug Booher, environmental manager for the state transportation department's turnpike division.

Proposed in 2002

Gov. Rick Perry first announced plans for the Trans-Texas Corridor in 2002 as a way to solve the state's increasing highway congestion woes. The project has at times drawn opposition from the Texas Farm Bureau and from three of Mr. Perry's opponents in this fall's gubernatorial election.

The farm bureau said the corridor would take too much agricultural land to complete and split some farms in half.

"Our position is fundamentally unchanged. We are opposed to the corridor," said Gene Hall, a farm bureau spokesman who pledged to get the corridor shelved in the next legislative session.

As part of the corridor, project developer Cintra-Zachry has laid out general plans to build $6 billion in toll roads. Last week, the partners announced plans for another $6 billion in new freight rail lines from San Antonio to North Texas.

The Blackland Coalition, a group representing rural interests in Central Texas, said the proposed corridor is not needed and serves to benefit foreign investors.

"They seem to be in a rush to build without a common-sense understanding of who is going to use this road," Chris Hammel, the group's co-founder, said recently.

Staff writer Ian McCann contributed to this report.

E-mail thartzel@dallasnews.com
© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co www.dallasnews.com

The Fat Blue Line

State releases map of proposed Trans-Texas Corridor

Cross-state toll road would run east of I-35, cut through blackland prairie, south to Laredo.

April 04, 2006

By Ben Wear
Austin American-Statesman
Coipyright 2006

GRAPEVINE — The Trans-Texas Corridor toll road twin to Interstate 35 will flank the freeway to the east from Dallas to San Antonio, include the Texas 130 turnpike in Central Texas, and go to Laredo rather than Brownsville, according to a draft environmental report released by state officials this morning.

The centerpiece of the 4,300-page draft report is a fat blue line showing an approximately 10-mile-wide area from Gainesville to San Antonio and a thinner line running south of there, delineating what has been a much-anticipated path for the turnpike. Rural Texans, in particular, have been waiting to see if their lands would fall under that blue swath — indicating that they might have to sell their land someday for the road.

Even if a particular parcel lies within that corridor, however, the tale is far from being told. The draft environmental impact statement for what will be known as TTC-35 is still subject to review, more public hearings and tinkering during the next year. Then, for particular road segments or rail projects, the state will conduct a second study that would narrow the path to a few hundred feet in width.

Construction of any kind is unlikely until 2010 or later.

But today's release, preliminary though it is, answers some big-picture questions:

• East or west, or down the middle? East. The state had at least held open the possibility that TTC-35 (and the rail lines likely to accompany it eventually) could go west of Fort Worth or even in between Fort Worth and Dallas. Although the report leaves a slight opening, including 11 other "reasonable" alternatives that include swinging west of Fort Worth, it makes it clear that a western route would be bad for rail lines because of that area's steeper hills and would divert much less traffic from I-35.

"In Texas, goods tend to go to the eastern United States," said Doug Booher, environmental manager for the Texas Department of Transportation's turnpike division. "The alternatives that go east of Dallas-Fort Worth do a much better job of relieving congestion."

• Is Texas 130 part of the corridor? Yes, for all but its northerly few miles where it juts back and connects to I-35. This always seemed inevitable, given that the state would hardly want to have two toll roads flanking Austin. But for arcane legal reasons, state officials had to be coy about this.

The 10-mile-wide corridor has plenty of room east of Texas 130, which is under construction and should open in 2007, to put rail lines. But, significantly, the recommended corridor does not go far enough east to include an existing Union Pacific line running north-south through Elgin and Bastrop. State officials happily announced last week that Cintra-Zachry, the partnership in line to build the TTC-35 toll road, has submitted a proposal to build a rail line along the corridor from Oklahoma to Mexico.

Cintra-Zachry, composed of the Spanish toll road builder Cintra and Zachry Construction Co. of San Antonio, has said it would spend $6 billion on a four-lane turnpike from Oklahoma to San Antonio, paying the state $1.2 billion in concession fees. The 600-mile rail line, which would be built to avoid all road crossings and allow freight trains to go 70 miles an hour, could cost as much as $6 billion, Texas Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton said last week.

• Will the corridor avoid the best cropland? No. While alternatives west of I-35 would have run over less fruitful lands, rather than the rich blackland prairie east of I-35, they scored low on fulfilling the road's purpose: to take cars and trucks off I-35.

The 10-mile swath does hug I-35 closely, with its western edge typically within 2 to 5 miles of the interstate, which might allow much of it to be built on the less-valued Austin Chalk lands. But north of Waco it cuts away from I-35 and I-35 East significantly to follow the most direct route toward Dallas' eastern side, a path that puts it over the blacklands area. The recommended corridor, according to the report, includes 2,403 square miles of prime farmland soils (although the narrower actual route would take perhaps only 2 percent of that much), the highest amount of 12 alternatives studied.

•Laredo or Brownsville? Laredo. This was perhaps the most surprising element of the report. Not the destination, but the path. The corridor south of San Antonio narrows from 10 miles to 4 miles and falls right on top of I-35 rather than to the side of it.

Critics had said over the past five years that Gov. Rick Perry's plan of new intrastate toll roads, most of them flanking various interstate highways, was unnecessary in some lightly traveled parts of the states.

South of San Antonio, for instance, current traffic on I-35 is only a little over 10,000 cars a day on a road that can accommodate several times that much.

Showing the corridor on top of the road indicates that state officials have taken that criticism to heart and would simply widen I-35 through sparsely populated and flat South Texas when additional road capacity is needed.

The complete study and map were to be available by 11 a.m. today on the state's Web site for the Trans-Texas Corridor, www.keeptexasmoving.org.

© 2006 Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com

Deep impact

Path of Trans-Texas Corridor toll road becoming clear

By GORDON DICKSON
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Copyright 2006

More than 2,400 square miles of prime farm land, 13 square miles of parks and 63 landfills are potentially in the path of a proposed toll road from North Texas to Laredo, according to an environmental study released Tuesday.

Nearly 1 million Texans live within the proposed route. At least 46 threatened or endangered plant and animal species call it home, too.

Those are among the details in a draft environmental impact study released by the Federal Highway Administration.

The document brings Texas Department of Transportation officials closer to their goal of opening the futuristic, tolled highway by 2015. A private team, Cintra Zachry, has been hired to plan the $6 billion road. The mission is to relieve congestion and move much of the heavy truck traffic from the Interstate 35 corridor across the state.

Many bureaucratic steps remain, including about 50 public hearings that are tentatively scheduled across the state this summer to give residents a closer look at the road’s projected path. Meetings in the Fort Worth area likely will be in June, a TxDot official says.

Texans who want to read the environmental study can access it online at www.dot.state.tx.us — but be warned, including appendices it’s about 4,000 pages long. But residents can click on maps and see how close their property is to the route, which has now been narrowed to a width of about 10 miles.

It closely follows Interstate 35 and Interstate 35E east of Dallas.

Other facts:

# The toll road would be 521 miles long. Most of it would be new road, but the project also would incorporate a portion of existing I-35 from San Antonio to Laredo.

# Of the 980,667 people who live in the path, 48 percent are minorities and 24 percent are below the poverty level.

# The route includes five federally recognized historic sites of 23 acres or greater.

# The route would traverse three major and six minor aquifers.

Gordon Dickson, (817) 685-3816

gdickson@star-telegram.com

© 2006 Fort Worth Star-Telegram: www.dfw.com

Ric Williamson: "This is the best solution and the only solution."

Trans-Texas Corridor may stay close to I-35
April 4, 2006

By TONY HARTZEL
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006

A coordinated network of toll roads, rail lines and utility lines should be built on or very near one of the main concrete arteries of Texas commerce, according to a new report and study released Tuesday.

And Texas Transportation officials have chosen “a study area” connected with Interstate 35 as the preferred route for the so-called Trans-Texas Corridor.

Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, said the gigantic public works project will help ease terrible traffic congestion on I-35 as population continues to grow.

“The Interstate 35 corridor is the single-most important economic generator in the state of Texas,” Mr. Williamson said. “We would not have pursued this solution if we were not convinced that this is the best solution and the only solution.”

The draft environmental report, which was more than a year in the making, narrows the corridor’s potential location to a 10-mile-wide study area that, in part, clips the southeast corner of Dallas County, runs just east of Lake Ray Hubbard and winds through much of Rockwall County.

Local leaders throughout the state - and particularly in North Texas - had often expressed worries that the study area would be too far away from urban areas, draw new development away cities and increase traffic in rural areas.

“We are somewhat pleased with what was presented this morning but we feel it still falls a long way short,” said Dallas City Council Member Bill Blaydes.

Additionally, Dallas County Commissioners Ken Mayfield and Maurine Dickey said they felt excluded from the process that resulted in the preferred route that was unveiled Tuesday.

Out of a dozen possible alternatives, the proposed study area unveiled Tuesday would run the closest to the existing I-35.

“The Trans-Texas Corridor was never envisioned to go through communities. It was envisioned to run near or beside urban areas,” said Doug Booher, the environmental manager for the Texas Department of Transportation’s turnpike division.

As proposed in the report, the corridor will run 521 miles from the Red River to the Rio Grande. In areas where roads, rail and utility lines are built together, the corridor will be 800 to 1,200 feet wide.

“Are we able to put a 1,200-foot corridor through the middle of Dallas? The answer would be no,” Mr. Booher said. “But that doesn’t mean the Trans-Texas Corridor will not ultimately connect to Dallas-Fort Worth, because it absolutely has to.”

Several other alternatives still under consideration would take the corridor west of Fort Worth. However, traffic patterns and interstate shipping demands show a larger demand for new roads and rail lines east of Dallas, state officials and project developers say.

One of the future steps for the corridor is to determine how to connect the main corridor route with urban areas. State officials say that North Texas leaders have come up with very good ideas for those road and rail connections - including the proposed construction of toll roads along a southern State Highway 360 extension and Loop 9 in southern Dallas County.

Those state officials say they will listen closely to North Texas leaders during the project’s next planning stage.

The 4,300-page draft environmental report represents a significant but early step in the long process that could lead to construction on the Trans-Texas Corridor.

The public will have its say on the corridor this summer, when the Texas Department of Transportation holds more than 50 public hearings on the draft report. A report outlining the final study area is expected in mid-2007.

After the 10-mile-wide study area is finalized, the state then may begin environmental reviews of specific projects. To build the toll roads from San Antonio to Dallas, for example, is expected to involve about six separate projects.

In general, detailed reviews of those projects can take an average of almost four years to complete, Mr. Booher said.

Gov. Rick Perry first announced plans for the Trans-Texas Corridor in 2002 as a way to solve the state’s increasing highway congestion woes. The project has at times drawn opposition from the Texas Farm Bureau and from three of Mr. Perry’s opponents in this fall’s gubernatorial election.

In late 2004, the state signed a $3.5 million project development agreement with Cintra-Zachry, a partnership between a toll-road construction firm from Spain and San Antonio-based Zachry Construction Corp.

According to the state transportation department, the corridor plans will not interfere with existing plans to widen I-35 throughout the state. Texas has 24 separate construction projects planned for I-35 at a total value of $1.46 billion, not including projects where work already has started.

One of the subplots in Tuesday’s report was the competition for the project along the Texas border. State officials had considered both Brownsville and Laredo for the project’s southern terminus.

“When you look at those routes from a traffic perspective, those that ended in the Valley did not do as good a job of meeting the goal of handling traffic as did Laredo,” Mr. Booher said.

The plan calls for the route to follow I-35 to Laredo, where it could connect with other transportation projects in Mexico. The state also strongly considered another route that would have been built on new land from San Antonio to Laredo.

“That’s what tipped the scales in favor of this route,” said Mr. Booher. “It was the opportunity to look much more closely at existing infrastructure.”

E-mail thartzel@dallasnews.com

© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co www.dallasnews.com

Highway 121: Conversion of public highway to a private toll road would be "mortgaging away our future."

Frisco no longer backs 121 toll plan

Transportation officials say removal of support won't stop project

April 4, 2006

By BILL LODGE
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006

FRISCO – The Frisco City Council rescinded support Tuesday for the expansion of 11 miles of State Highway 121 as a toll road through Collin County.

The council's 5-1 vote sets the stage for a showdown with state officials who are thinking about granting a tollway contract to a private company.

"This absolutely does not stop the project," said Bob Brown, deputy engineer for the Dallas district of the Texas Department of Transportation.

If necessary, Mr. Brown said, state officials will take the matter to the Regional Transportation Council for mediation.

Frisco officials had been expected to bolt from their support of tolls.

For weeks, City Manager George Purefoy, Mayor Mike Simpson and others said state officials' refusal to limit the toll to 12 cents per mile would unfairly punish Frisco residents for highway improvements that would benefit people throughout the Dallas area.

Excess toll revenues should not be siphoned off for other highway projects, Frisco officials said.

"We all should pay equally," Mr. Purefoy said at a recent meeting with Frisco homeowners. He said state officials also have proposed including in that contract a toll escalator that would be tied to the federal consumer price index.

Frisco officials say the North Texas Tollway Authority would operate 121 at cheaper rates than a private firm, noting that the NTTA charges about 10 cents per mile for travel on the Dallas North Tollway.

"I believe in the long term, this will economically hurt Frisco," Mr. Purefoy said. He also said the toll price could easily escalate to more than 25 cents per mile.

Grady Smithey, a member of both the Duncanville City Council and the Regional Transportation Council, said he disagrees with Frisco's position. He said Frisco and other Collin County residents have received more state gas-tax dollars over the last 15 years than residents in southern Dallas County.

"My main point is that Collin County officials cannot be regionalists only when they are on the receiving end of the revenue generated," he said.

City, state connections

Council member Tony Felker cast the lone vote against withdrawing support for the toll road. While he agreed with his colleagues that it's wrong to turn over public roads to a private entity, he said it's important for the city to continue a dialogue with state officials.

He added that the council had two responsibilities in the matter: "Be a pain in the neck" and "Keep a seat at the table."

Other Frisco officials argued that their city is about to become a cash cow for a grossly underfunded state transportation system.

"It's almost the same as the school finance mess," Mr. Purefoy said, referring to the Robin Hood plan that funnels tax dollars from wealthy school districts to those that are poor.

"This is not Robin Hood," Mr. Smithey responded. "When they say that, it makes me madder than hell."

TxDOT's Mr. Brown agreed with Mr. Smithey on that point.

Mr. Brown said excess revenue from Highway 121 tolls would be limited to projects within TxDOT's Dallas district – Dallas, Collin, Denton, Rockwall, Ellis, Kaufman and Navarro counties.

He noted that Dallas-area officials have long supported a regional approach to funding highway projects.

What residents say

But Mr. Purefoy and several members of Frisco's City Council have generated support from local residents for their position on Highway 121.

Frisco resident Jeff Trykoski said Tuesday that allowing the state to convert 121 from a public highway to a tollway and turning it over to a private operator would "be mortgaging away our future."

Fred Lusk, president of the homeowners association for Frisco's Hillcrest Estates, attended a meeting with city officials last week.

"I'm pretty much in support of George Purefoy's position," Mr. Lusk said later. "I believe the money ought to stay here. They're taxing us to pay for deficiencies in state road funds elsewhere.

"And it'll be a real shame if they grant this [toll contract] to a private company."

Plano resident Sharon Overall argued: "Everyone in the state should have access to free freeways." Otherwise, she said, "only the rich will have access to our highways."

Mr. Brown said TxDOT officials have been puzzled by Frisco's arguments against their plans for Highway 121.

"I just can't understand it, especially when we've done so much for Frisco," Mr. Brown said.

Over the past 15 years, Mr. Brown said, state highway funds have helped Frisco grow to a city of about 85,000 that is poised to triple in size by 2020.

"We made them a priority," the deputy engineer said. "For them to impede our ability to build ...

"We're just disappointed."

Mr. Purefoy and Mr. Simpson, the mayor, noted that Mr. Smithey and other members of the Regional Transportation Council have never overridden a local government's opposition to a toll road.

But Mr. Brown, Mr. Smithey and Mr. Lusk said they believe Highway 121 will have to be tolled and expanded to keep traffic jams from becoming unbearable.

"I don't like toll roads any better than anyone else," Mr. Lusk said. "But I'm convinced the only way I'll see 121 improved in my lifetime is if it's tolled."

E-mail blodge@dallasnews.com

© 2006 The Dallas Morning News www.dallasnews.com

"The downside, for taxpayers, is that government could be underselling."

Private companies riding the bull market for toll roads

April 03, 2006

Ben Wear
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2006

So, you've come into some money — a whole bunch of it, really — and you're casting about for a way to invest it. Then you hear from a guy.

Have I got a product for you, he says! It's something everybody uses, it's in chronically short supply, and you'll be the only one selling it in this market. Based on history and common sense, the demand can only get larger over time.

And, by the way, the other party in the transaction is strapped for cash and will probably give you a great deal. Wanna play?

"Hand me the pen."

That's pretty much the situation with toll roads, according to a March 20 Merrill Lynch analysis of why private companies such as turnpike operator Cintra are throwing billion-dollar bundles at U.S. government officials like so much confetti.

"With gas taxes — traditionally used to fund highway projects — not bringing in enough revenues to properly maintain existing roadways, let alone build new ones, some states can no longer afford not to consider leasing their toll roads," the study says.

From a private company's point of view, "the combination of traffic growth, toll increases and operating efficiencies can result in solid and steady revenue growth over the long term. . . . (and) large U.S. toll roads usually operate from a monopolistic position where there are few alternative highways."

From the driver's point of view . . . well, that depends on your point of view.

Gov. Rick Perry's gubernatorial opponents have been making hay over the governor's transportation department tentatively agreeing to let Cintra, a Spanish company, join with a Texas company to build and operate a toll-road twin to Interstate 35 for the next half-century or so. Now, Cintra has offered to build a freight rail line alongside it.

Of course, our last war against Spain occurred more than a century ago. Remember the Maine? Me neither.

But Cintra is just the start.

It joined with the Australian bank Macquarie in acquiring long-term leases on the Chicago Skyway toll road (paying $1.83 billion upfront) and the Indiana Toll Road (for $3.85 billion).

Another Australian company is about to buy a Richmond, Va., toll road. And according to the Merrill Lynch analysis, six other European firms have become players in the private toll road market. There are no U.S. companies listed. Yet.

What politician, loath to raise taxes and with spending demands from the electorate, can resist the lure of such big checks? Anyone? Anyone?

So where's all this money coming from? Macquarie offers an interesting example.

Australia passed a law in 1992, Merrill Lynch writes, requiring workers to save large amounts of income for retirement. Macquarie has accumulated $550 billion of that money in an investment fund, far too much to keep under the mattress. Better to put it into a toll road and make a return of more than 12 percent.

The downside, for taxpayers, is that government could be underselling. By one estimate, Cintra and Macquarie will break even on the Indiana tollway in 15 years and clear $21 billion over the next 60 years. Such a deal.

Getting There appears Mondays. For questions, tips or story ideas, contact Getting There at 445-3698 or bwear@statesman.com.

© 2006 Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com

"The rationale for a road like this is either a lie or it's delusional."

Big dreams of a megahighway

If built, New Corridors would dwarf all current Florida highways. But its feasibility is uncertain.

April 2, 2006

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
St. Petersburg Times
copyright 2006

What is 1,000 feet wide and 150 miles long?

According to the Florida Department of Transportation, it's a proposed megahighway and transit hub that would ease Interstate 75 congestion and gird the Tampa Bay region for a looming population explosion.

Or, the way some planners see it, it's a project of monstrous scope that could push suburban development into west-central Florida's remaining rural fringes and divert investment from urban cores.

Don't know much about what would be the one of the most massive highways in Florida history? Neither do local transportation officials.

"I really can't say anything because I don't know much," said Ed Mierzejewski, the director of the Center for Urban Transportation at the University of South Florida.

"I know very little about it," said Ralph Mervine, interim executive director of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority.

Credit some of the mystery shrouding what Transportation Department officials have dubbed the "New Corridors" project to its uncertain status. A $750,000 study approved last year by department administrators will determine whether it's feasible. That report won't be completed until the end of the year. Until then, no one has even an estimate of the cost.

If the project is deemed viable, then it would enter an engineering and design phase that could take years before actual construction.

In the meantime, consultants are scouring a two-mile wide corridor through 10 counties - including Hernando, Hillsborough and Pasco - to determine if there's enough suitable land.

Transportation Department officials have already begun meeting with local government and civic leaders to discuss areas not to build. On Thursday, they meet with Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean.

If built, New Corridors would dwarf all Florida highways that came before it. It would be more than three times the typical interstate highway width of 300 feet.

At least some segments could be toll facilities. Other regions of the state are considering similar projects, said Bob Clifford, the department's planning manager for the district that includes Tampa Bay.

It isn't just for automobiles, Clifford said. Lanes would be set aside for passenger and freight rail, car pooling, bus rapid transit, trucks and utilities such as fiber optics.

It might be a single corridor stretching from Charlotte County to the northern edge of Hernando. Or it might be various segments that feed into existing roads, like Interstate 75 and the Polk Parkway near Lakeland.

"We're trying to address all the needs that we foresee in the future," he said. "We're looking at this from a big picture perspective."

Clifford said the project is needed in west-central Florida to accommodate an anticipated influx of 2-million people by 2030. Much of the future gridlock can be avoided because New Corridors would provide the needed road and transit space before new homes get built, Clifford said.

But far from being visionary, New Corridors sounds more like a throwback to a mid 20th century model of autocentric transportation projects that fuel further sprawl, some national planning groups say.

"The rationale for a road like this is either a lie or it's delusional," said David Goldberg, a spokesman for Smart Growth America, a planning group based in Washington. D.C.

For one thing, Goldberg said, passenger rail won't work there. With the project likely to be built in rural areas where land is cheap, there won't be enough people to walk to the rail line and support it with fares. Since people would have to drive to the facility, it's unlikely they'd get out of their cars to take the rail unless the highway is completely gridlocked, he said.

"I don't see this being anything more than a highway for motor vehicles," Goldberg said. "It'll open up land for suburban development, and we'll be right back in the soup again with more traffic. "

When it comes to traffic, America is at a crossroads.

Alternate energy sources, rising construction costs and fuel-efficient cars are depleting a chief source to pay for new roads: the gas tax. With less money to build, many communities are opting to build different types of transit.

Several cities - including Charlotte, N.C., Seattle, Phoenix and Denver - are embarking on ambitious light rail projects aimed at relieving congestion.

Tampa Bay has turned away from rail. In November 2004, Hillsborough County's Metropolitan Planning Organization dumped a long-discussed rail project from the county's transportation plan because there was no money for it. The downtown Tampa streetcar has fended off heated criticism for more than a year that it wastes taxpayer money.

Rather than pursue rail, Florida and Tampa Bay are following other regions in continuing their devotion to road building.

Georgia is planning to expand I-75 to as many as 23 lanes. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is betting his political future on the Trans-Texas Corridor, a 50-year plan to build a series of 1,200-foot-wide highways.

Although it's only in the planning phase, the $184-billion Texas project was the inspiration for New Corridors, Clifford and project manager Ming Gao said.

Like the potential Florida project, the Trans-Texas Corridor bundles multiple uses, from toll roads to freight and passenger rail, into a series of segments laced across rural parts of the state. About 4,000 miles are planned, and the corridors would include oil and gas pipelines, utility and water lines, and space for broadband data.

There aren't any construction contracts yet. But the developer of the first phase of the project near San Antonio was selected in 2004.

If Florida follows this example, there's unrest on the horizon.

Many Texans refuse to sell their land for the project. A Web site, corridorwatch.org, says 32 Texas counties have passed resolutions opposing it.

Perry, a Republican, is running for re-election and his opponents, Democratic nominee Chris Bell and independent candidates Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman, are critics of the project.

"Its biggest problem is that it has to eat up so much land," said David Crossley, president of the planning nonprofit Gulf Coast Institute in Houston. "Rural counties with farmers aren't happy about it.

"The view, increasingly, is that this project is little more than a development scheme."

* * *

So if the Trans-Texas Corridor is grabbing headlines, why no buzz about New Corridors?

Project manager Ming Gao said it's premature.

"We don't know if it will be in Hillsborough," Gao said. "It may not even come to fruition."

The first public meetings may be held this summer, Gao said.

Transportation Department officials approved the $750,000 study last year after various chambers of commerce and civic groups like the Tampa Bay Partnership pushed for an alternative to I-75, Clifford said.

The partnership, a nonprofit economic development group with more than 150 member organizations and businesses, is a one prime sponsor.

Many partnership members are developers. Its chairman is a Realtor, and members include land use lawyers, home builders and engineering firms whose livelihoods depend upon suburban development.

Spearheading the group's planning is Joe Smith, an adviser of special projects for Walbridge Aldinger, a Detroit commercial builder with a Tampa office.

Smith said the Partnership has been discussing the project for two years. He said he has met with various transportation officials to discuss it.

The corridor would spawn concentrated nodes of development at the few access points that get built, he said. No more than 100 acres large, these areas would have work force housing, entertainment districts and offices, he said. Development outside these areas would be limited, Smith said.

"It certainly will favor cars and trucks in the beginning," he said, but that would change as the population gets dense enough to support mass transit.

"This is an exciting project that will deal with growth intelligently," Smith said.

Many local officials say they want to learn more and be assured that it won't drain resources and from urban cores.

"We don't object at this point," said David Goodwin, St. Petersburg's director of economic development.

"We just want the DOT to tell us more than just how much the road is going to cost. Its impact on central cities and sprawl needs to be thoroughly examined."

Information from Times wires was used in this report.
[Last modified April 2, 2006, 01:23:12]

© 2006 St. Petersburg Times www.sptimes.com