County not happy with I-69's direction

May 28, 2007

By Stephen Palkot

For years, Fort Bend County officials enthusiastically supported the proposed I-69 highway, which would replace what is now U.S. 59. A promise of added lanes to the highway - and international trade - has been the driving force behind this initiative.

Growing discontent over the direction of the project, however, led the county last year to decide against renewing membership with the non-profit, intergovernmental group that is pushing Interstate 69. And recently that same group was dealt a major blow with Harris County's decision to withdraw.

County Judge Bob Hebert said the county pulled out not because of disagreement over strategy but over technical issues. In recent years, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has proposed that I-69 be constructed and operated by private interests, and recent maps call for the behemoth to bypass Fort Bend County and Houston altogether.

"We support the I-69 concept and we have since it was proposed," said Hebert. "The new concept, though, the large privately financed route that bypasses the Greater Houston area with a loop down into it, there are conceptual problems. I don't think it has been thoroughly vetted or analyzed."

TxDOT today considers I-69 a component of the TransTexas Corridor (TTC), which is Gov. Rick Perry's vision of privately funded roadways and rail lines throughout Texas. In addition to I-69, Perry is also pushing a route on the TTC that would emcompass I-35.

Hebert said some of the proposals behind the TTC do not make sense. For instance, if the vendor of the I-35 portion of the corridor has a provision to block competitive roadways, "then you give him the authority to block I-69" because of its proximity in certain areas to I-35.

"We support increasing capacity in Fort Bend County. The original concept behind I-69 was high volume through the Houston area and to improve U.S. 59 to the border. We still support that, but I don't know that we support the concept of a privately funded toll road for I-69.

"The whole thrust of I-69 and their efforts is to get a high-capacity corridor through Texas and Houston on up to Chicago," he said.

The Harris County Commissioners Court pulled its support of the I-69 Alliance largely in response to the alliance's public requests to kill Texas Senate Bill 792.

That legislation, also supported by Fort Bend County, was written to place a two-year moratorium on the TTC. The bill also included a provision that would give Fort Bend and other Texas counties the ability to construct their own toll roads on TxDOT right-of-way, with toll revenue staying at the local level.

A compromise version of the bill was reached on Thursday in the Texas Legislature, and both chambers were expected to vote on it soon.

"These are policy issues," said Hebert. "I don't think anybody on either side is opposed to adding capacity on 59 and upgrading it to freeway status. That whole problem has changed in scope. I-69 is currently routed to the north and, at some point, it would come within 80 miles of I-35. To have two huge toll systems that close together basically carrying traffic in both directions, I don't know if that's good public policy."

Hebert said if the governor signs SB 792, it will give entities time to come up with solutions "for folks to support."

"The defeat of SB 792 would create serious problems for Fort Bend," he said.

That bill carries Fort Bend County's two toll roads as local initiatives, an important factor for the county, Hebert said, as the county wants to maintain "ownership" of the revenues generated by the roads.

Eventually, Hebert said he sees Westpark Toll Road and the Fort Bend Parkway spinning off surplus funds to help fund future mobility projects.