Declared dead by TxDOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz and Governor Rick Perry on Tuesday, January 6, the Trans-Texas Corridor was then immediately born again — under an assumed name.
They must have had their fingers crossed behind their backs when they declared the NAFTA Superhighway defunct, because in typical governmentium nauseam verba they acknowledged that the original plans will be built as stand-alone smaller projects with their very next breaths.
The Interstate 35 tollway twin from San Antonio to Oklahoma and Interstate 69 from Brownsville to Texarkana, and the 130 toll road’s construction will move forward. Governor Perry said, “We really don’t care what name they attach to building infrastructure in the state of Texas. The key is we have to go forward and build it.” Saenz seconded that saying only a name change is occurring: “We’ve decided to put the name to rest.”
But the San Antonio Express-News reports that the corridor remains intact. “Toll roads, truck-only lanes and rail lines are still in the works,” and the environmental impact studies, meetings, and consulting agreements with private contractors go on as well.
Senate Transportation Committee chairman John Carona, R-Dallas said after the name-change announcement, “We can now focus on the real issue, which is additional road capacity and the means to finance the same.” Saenz said his agency will try to keep the corridor widths to 600 feet, as opposed to the original 1,200 feet — a concession to farmers, ranchers, and small-town mayors who stood to lose entire livelihoods.
Of course the TTC was never really dead.
