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Trans-Texas Corridor

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Template:Future infrastructure

File:CoasttoCoastConnections.jpg
In a presentation to the Texas Transportation Forum, Polk County Judge John Thompson, Vice Chair, Alliance for I-69, illustrates how the Trans-Texas Corridor fits in international trade patterns.

The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) is a transportation network in the planning and early construction stages in the U.S. state of Texas. The network, as originally envisioned, would be composed of a 4,000-mile (6,400 km) network of supercorridors up to 1,200 feet (370 m) wide to carry parallel links of tollways, rails, and utility lines.[1] It is intended to route long-distance traffic around population centers as well as provide stable corridors for future infrastructure improvements such as new power lines from wind farms in West Texas to the cities in the east without the otherwise often lengthy administrative and legal procedures required to build on privately owned land. The tollway portion would be divided into two separate elements: truck lanes and lanes for passenger vehicles. Similarly, the rail lines in the corridor would be divided among freight, commuter, and high-speed rail. The Texas Department of Transportation intends to "charge public and private concerns for utility, commodity or data transmission" within the corridor,[2] in essence creating a toll road for services such as water, electricity, natural gas, petroleum, fiber optic lines, and other telecommunications services. The network will be funded by private investors and built and expanded as demand warrants.

Network

The TTC is hoped to be a multi-use, state-wide system that would include new and existing highways, railways, and utility rights-of-way if implemented. The network is currently proposed to include separate lanes for passenger and truck traffic, freight and high-speed commuter railways, as well as infrastructure for utilities including water, oil and gas pipelines, electricity, broadband and other telecommunications services. Although the model corridor design incorporates all of these elements running in parallel within a shared right-of-way, more recent plans have suggested that existing rail and road corridors may be used for some components of the TTC. The model corridor design also represents the ultimate build-out of a corridor section, which may not be realized for decades, if at all, as corridor segments and components are planned to be built based on traffic demand.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has attempted to provide oversight for planning, construction, and maintenance while day-to-day operations will be performed by private companies.[3] In March 2005, TxDOT and Cintra-Zachry signed a comprehensive development agreement which authorized $3.5 million of planning for TTC-35. This agreement did not designate the alignment, authorize construction, set toll rates or who collects them, and did not eliminate competition for future services.[4] Currently there have been no contracts awarded to develop or finance any other corridor.[5]

Corridors

This map of the United States shows the volume of freight shipped through Texas, a major trade gateway from Mexico, as red lines branching out from the heart of the Lone Star State. Freight not passing through Texas is not included.

There are two initial trans-Texas corridors under consideration: One would parallel Interstate 35 (I-35), from Gainesville to Laredo and passing the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Austin and San Antonio. The other would be an extension generally following US 59, from Texarkana past Houston to either Laredo or the Rio Grande Valley. Both of these corridors have seen large increases in freight traffic demand over the past two decades due to increased trade with Mexico.

Two additional high priority potential corridors would parallel Interstate 45 from Dallas to Houston and Interstate 10 from El Paso to Orange.[6]

TTC-35

Cintra-Zachry, a partnership between Spanish-based toll-road developer/operator Cintra and Texas-based Zachry Construction, was awarded a $3.5 million contract to help plan the entire TTC-35 route in March 2005.[7] The study area for Trans-Texas Corridor-35 (TTC-35) generally follows Interstate 35 from Laredo to the Oklahoma border. The environmental study for the project is proceeding in two tiers: a first tier that refines the study area to a 10-mile (16 km) wide study corridor and a second tier that selects particular alignments for the various corridor components; where all corridor components (rail, highway, and utilities) are planned to built adjacent to one another, this corridor will be approximately 1,200 feet (370 m) wide.

The TTC-35 Tier 1 draft environmental impact statement (EIS) was published in April 2006.[8] The final EIS was expected originally to be submitted to the Federal Highway Administration in 2007; as of April 2008, preparation of the final EIS is listed as "ongoing."[9]

The draft EIS included 12 different study corridor alternatives by choosing among four variations along the route. The first variation, from Laredo to southeast of San Antonio, would either include the current I-35 alignment until curving off to the east at a point south of San Antonio or would follow a more direct route to the east. The study area for all alternatives continues northeast, paralleling I-35. The second variation would either pass just to the east of the municipal boundaries along I-35 from Austin to Temple or further east. The third variation would either pass to the west of Fort Worth or east of Dallas. The fourth variation was dependent on the eastern third variation and would either rejoin the western third variation near the Oklahoma border or would end at the Oklahoma border near U.S. Highway 75. The draft EIS designated a recommended preferred alternative corridor running to the east of I-35 and I-35E from near Gainesville to south of San Antonio, where the corridor would join I-35 to run south to Laredo.

SH 130

State Highway 130 is a component of the Central Texas Turnpike System, much of which is likely to be incorporated into TTC-35. Segments 1-4 of SH 130 are being built by Lone Star Infrastructure in the Austin metropolitan area as an eastern relief route for Interstate 35.

On June 28, 2006, Cintra-Zachry reached a $1.3 billion agreement with the state to build segments 5 and 6 of SH 130,[10] which would likely represent the alignment of TTC-35's highway component between Interstate 10 at Seguin east of San Antonio and U.S. Highway 79 near Taylor, Texas.[11] According to the "Facility Plan of Finance," $412 million of financing for the project would be a federally-guaranteed loan under the Transportation Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act, while the remaining financing would be from equity put forward by Cintra-Zachry and bank loans from private lenders.[12] Per the agreement, TxDOT would receive between 4.65% and 50% of toll revenues depending on the performance of the facility, with a smaller share due to TxDOT if TxDOT does not authorize posting of daytime speed limits of 80 mph (130 km/h) or higher along the route.[13]

The Cintra-Zachry Preliminary Financial Plan shows the expected toll revenue to be collected for Segment 5 and 6 at $14.9 billion over 50 years. The Preliminary Financial Plan for Segment 5 and 6 also shows $12.4 billion in earnings before taxes for the developer.[citation needed]

I-69/TTC

Main article: Interstate 69 in Texas

The second priority corridor for development is the Interstate 69 extension through Texas, which will roughly follow the route of US 59 from Laredo via Houston to Carthage; there, the national I-69 corridor will continue northeast into Louisiana and a spur route north to Texarkana will continue along US 59 to Interstate 30. The original national plan for I-69 also included two spur routes to the Rio Grande Valley following US 281 and US 77; Texas is also studying a connection between the I-69 corridor near Laredo and Corpus Christi known as the "Port to Port Corridor."

Texas' portion of I-69 was originally planned to be developed as a traditional Interstate highway (with a mixed-use freeway component only), as it is being developed in other states, but was rolled into the Trans Texas Corridor concept soon after the latter's announcement due to their substantial overlap in purpose and scope. However, on June 11, 2008, TxDOT announced they planned to limit further study of I-69 to existing highway corridors – U.S. 59, U.S. 77, U.S. 281, U.S. 84, and SH 44 – outside transition zones in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, Houston, and Texarkana.[14]

According to the Deep East Texas Council of Governments, I-69 is a "future NAFTA Superhighway".[15] It will enter the U.S. from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.[16]

Other potential corridors

Texas officials have identified several other possible TTC corridors in the long-range plan. Interstate 10 through the southern part of the state, Interstate 20 from east of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to I-10 near Midland, along an extended Interstate 27 through western Texas, and a new terrain corridor along the northern Texas border.

As alternatives to California seaports

File:Alternates-to-CA-ports1.jpg
A chart showing proposed alternatives to California seaports

One component of the TTC will stretch from new and expanded ports on the Pacific coast of Mexico all the way up to the Great Lakes.[17] Proponents of the TTC intend on drawing shipping traffic away from U.S. ports in California (Los Angeles and Long Beach) and direct that traffic to Mexican seaports.[18]

Criticism

File:TTC I-69 Demonstrators.jpg
Demonstrators protest both Texas Governor Rick Perry and TTC I-69 at public hearings throughout Texas in 2008.

2008 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has voiced major opposition to the project, calling it the "NAFTA Superhighway" and saying the road would lead towards a North American Union.[19] Critics also point out that Texas Department of Transportation documents reveal that meetings with undisclosed foreign persons had already been held in Mexico prior to disclosing the corridor plan to the U.S. public.[20]

Similarly, American author and conservative activist Jerome R. Corsi vehemently opposes the Corridor and has written a book called The Late Great USA, the coming merger with Mexico and Canada.[21][22] In 2002 dollars, the TTC was estimated to cost between US$145.2 billion to $183.5 billion to complete the entire 4,000-mile (6,400 km) network.[23] Some criticisms have focused on the enormous width of the corridors. The planned system would require about 584,000 acres (2,360 km2) of land to be purchased or acquired through the state's assertion of eminent domain.[citation needed] Environmentalists are concerned about the effects of such wide corridors and private land owners have expressed concerns about property rights.[24] Opponents have also alleged that noise from the TTC will be of such a high volume that it will render the area within one mile of the corridor uninhabitable by humans, at least during periods of peak traffic on all components of the corridor (freight and passenger rail, truck lanes, and passenger lanes) if they are colocated and built to full capacity.[25]

According to TxDOT documents released in June 2002, "Governor Rick Perry wrote Transportation Commission Chairman John W. Johnson on January 30, 2002 to outline his vision for the Trans Texas Corridor. The governor asked the three-member commission to assemble the Texas Department of Transportation’s top talent to create and deliver a Trans Texas Corridor implementation plan in 90 days."[26]

In spite of public complaints – and both the 2006 platforms of the Texas Republican[27] and Democratic[28] parties opposing the plan – Governor Rick Perry continues to support the TTC.[29]

The TTC has the strong support of the Perry-appointed five-member Texas Transportation Commission, which was headed by the governor's close friend and former state legislative colleague, Ric Williamson, until Williamson's sudden death from a heart attack on December 30, 2007. It has also been supported by State Representative Mike Krusee of Williamson County, who is the chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

Financing

To help pay for building the roads and rails, the highways will be partially financed through private investment.[citation needed] The investors will then operate the highways as toll roads.[citation needed]

Based on The Cintra-Zachry Preliminary Financial Plan (TTC-35 Development Agreement, Exhibit C) funding the TTC-35 Corridor awarded to Cintra-Zachry shows that 22%(1) of the initial infrastructure costs are shown to be funded with equity provided by Cintra-Zachry. The other 78% is provided by bank loans or bonds arranged by Cintra-Zachry. Based on current federal regulations these bonds can be tax exempt. It is also noted that in the financial plan Cintra-Zachry expects to have 12% return on investment for their equity partners. The 12% return is after taxes, which is approximately equivalent to 16% before taxes. The plan calls for paying off the bank loans and the bonds prior to retiring the equity as shown in cash flow diagrams of the Preliminary Financial Plan (TTC-35 Development Agreement, Exhibit C) With usual bond financing there is a 3:1 ratio between total fees collected and value of capital infrastructure built. With TTC-35 the ratio is in the order of magnitude of 13:1. So while TTC-35 commits to construct $8 billion in infrastructure Cintra-Zachry expects to collect $114 billion in toll revenues as shown in the preliminary plan. A report by the Texas State Auditor estimated the toll to be collected for TTC-35 to be $104 Billion or more, confirming the order of magnitude of tolls collected.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Crossroads of the Americas: Trans Texas Corridor Plan Report Summary
  2. ^ Crossroads of the Americas: Trans Texas Corridor Plan « TTC 69
  3. ^ TTC overview
  4. ^ TTC contracts & agreements
  5. ^ I-69/TTC contracts & agreements
  6. ^ Crossroads of the Americas: Trans Texas Corridor Plan Report Summary
  7. ^ TTC-35 CONTRACTS & AGREEMENTS
  8. ^ TTC-35 Draft Environmental Impact Statement overview
  9. ^ TTC-35 Environmental Study Timeline
  10. ^ SH 130 Concession Company, LLC
  11. ^ State Highway 130 (Segments 5 and 6) Concession Agreement
  12. ^ Exhibit 5, Facility Plan of Finance
  13. ^ Exhibit 7, Concession Terms
  14. ^ Texas Department of Transportation, "TxDOT Recommends Narrowing Study Area for Texas Portion of I-69," June 11, 2008.
  15. ^ Deep East Texas Council of Governments Newsletter May 2000 « TTC 69
  16. ^ Trans-Texas Corridor: TTC Projects - Draft Environmental Impact Statement Tier One
  17. ^ Testimony of Judge Robert Eckels Before the (Texas State) Senate Committee on Infrastructure Development and Security, May 4, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2008
  18. ^ Gulf Coast Strategic Highway - News
  19. ^ Ron Paul (2006-10-31). "Ron Paul on the NAFTA Superhighway". Retrieved 2007-07-23.
  20. ^ Crossroads of the Americas: Trans Texas Corridor Plan « TTC 69
  21. ^ "Book: The Late Great USA, The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada".
  22. ^ July 5, 2006 column by Jerome R. Corsi--"NASCO Alters Super-Corridor Message":
  23. ^ Crossroads of the Americas: Trans Texas Corridor Plan Report Summary
  24. ^ Cathy Booth Thomas (December 6, 2004). The Next Wave in Superhighways, or A Big, Fat Texas Boondoggle? TIME. Accessed December 3, 2004.
  25. ^ Noise from TTC will render area within 1 mile of corridor uninhabitable. « TTC 69
  26. ^ Crossroads of the Americas: Trans Texas Corridor Plan « TTC 69
  27. ^ 2006 Texas Republican Party Platform
  28. ^ 2006 Texas Democratic Party Platform
  29. ^ Governor Rick Perry Statement of Gov. Rick Perry on Trans Texas Corridor
  30. ^ The NAFTA Superhighway in The Nation
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