Commissioners hear of corridor plans

January 12, 2005

By MATT JOYCE Tribune-Herald staff writer

McLennan County commissioners on Tuesday began delve into plans for the massive Trans-Texas Corridor in an attempt to understand the project's possible local ramifications.

A 15-minute presentation by David Stall, a founder of the anti-corridor group Corridor Watch, ballooned into an hour-long discussion focusing mostly on damages the tollway could inflict on McLennan County's tax base, landowners and Interstate 35 commerce.

"I heard a lot of negative facts today, and I'm very concerned," Pct. 1 Commissioner Wendall Crunk said. "At some point, we need to gather the information and either support it or oppose it."

Gov. Rick Perry proposed the concept of a 4,000-mile Trans-Texas Corridor in 2002. Texas lawmakers passed legislation authorizing the project's creation in 2003.

In December, the Texas Transportation Commission selected a proposal by Spanish engineering and financial firm Cintra to invest $7.2 billion in building the first stage of the corridor by 2010.

The initial stage will be a stretch from North Texas to San Antonio parallel to Interstate 35 and potentially passing through McLennan County. The state has estimated that the corridor could consume 146 acres for every mile it runs.

Stall said that could add up to 4,200 acres, or 6.5 square miles, in McLennan County.

The project was originally envisioned as a 1,200-foot-wide corridor including separate tollways for passenger vehicles and freight trucks, six rail lines, and utility lines for water, petroleum, natural gas, electricity and data.

But the actual shape the project both its size and its north-south route have not been determined, said Ken Roberts, Waco district spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation.

Roberts said a third round of public hearings on the corridor will begin in February. The transportation department is using public input to help determine the project's design and route, he said.

"There have been no final decisions," he said.

Proponents believe the corridor will make traveling safer and more efficient, both for passenger vehicles and freight trucks. They also say the project will enhance economic development and generate revenue for transportation improvements.

Stall said that controversy over congressional redistricting in 2003 overshadowed the transportation bill authorizing the corridor project and distracted legislators from fully examining its components. The bill also went largely unnoticed by the public and local elected officials, he said.

Stall said the development of Cintra's contract with the state will be kept confidential until it is signed in 12 to 18 months, which limits public participation in the process.

The state's purchase of the land for the corridor through eminent domain would remove the land from county and special-district taxing rolls, forcing county taxpayers to make up for the lost funding, Stall said.

Also, Cintra would have the exclusive rights to start businesses or contract for necessary services related the corridor, he said.

Stall said the only way to substantially change the corridor project would be through new laws passed during the ongoing legislative session, which will end before the Texas Transportation Commission and Cintra finalize their corridor development plans.

Pct. 3 Commissioner Joe Mashek said he learned many of the project's details for the first time Tuesday. He said that concerned counties should unite to seek legislative changes to the corridor project.

"I think if we take a wait-and-see approach it's going to be too late," he said.

Commissioners will hear from representatives from the Texas Department of Transportation at their meeting next week.

 

Matt Joyce can be reached at 757-5735 or mjoyce@wacotrib.com.