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May/June 2007 TTC - Four Years Later Fast-forward four years to March 1, 2007, when the very first public hearing on the TTC was held by the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, coinciding with Texas Independence Day. It took the entire day to hear all of the testimony. Over 500 people filled the room, causing the committee to open three spillover rooms with television screens piping in the proceedings. Testimony was compelling, well prepared, and overwhelmingly opposed to the TTC. The people had finally been given an opportunity to be heard, and they were not in favor of a foreign-controlled superhighway rolling through Texas. Part of the “package” the State offered Cintra-Zachary, the Spanish owned road builder, to build the Trans Texas Corridor was their ability to lease out land to private companies inside the quarter-mile right-of-way that the State was going to take through eminent domain. Through these “facilities,” Cintra will receive billions of dollars in rent and cash paid by all the users of the Corridor. Users include the gas stations, restaurants, hotels, and other businesses allowed by the state to be built inside the corridor, as well as, all the paying customers of those establishments, including the tolls being paid by the drivers of the vehicles entering from Mexico and Canada. Once on the superhighway, travelers will never need to exit for gas, hotels, or food proving how destructive this ill-conceived plan will be to local economies this road will either dissect or bypass. Then, a typical political move occurred. Senator Carona set the Senate moratorium bill for a hearing and then proceeded to explain that he was not going to let the bill out of committee, even though it had the necessary votes and had 25 of the 31 Senators as co-sponsors. The landowners and citizens fighting the TTC felt once again that they had been double-crossed by our elected officials supposed to be representing the people, not foreign corporations with the most money. There was no one they could trust in this fight any longer. It was obvious, Governor Rick Perry, the originator of the TTC, was pulling all the strings of the puppets at the Capitol, proving once again that the TTC was much bigger than just Texas’ infrastructure needing a little overhauling. Within a week following the Carona committee hearing, it became clearer why the moratorium bill was slowed to a snail’s pace. In superb arrogance, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced it had signed a 50-year contract with Cintra-Zachry to complete the southern portion of the Highway 130 Toll project that parallels I-35. TxDOT needed time to complete the contract and Senator Carona gave it to them. Under the contract, the State gets a parallel 90-mile bypass of I-35 from Georgetown to San Antonio, at least $25 million upfront cash, and a minimum of 4.65 percent of the road’s toll revenue initially that could increase to 50 percent if the road brings in enough cash over the next 50 years. According to reports, right of way will be obtained this summer to build out the remaining 41 miles of road and Cintra-Zachry will have a 50-year non-compete contract that doesn’t allow the state to build any new roads or even maintain existing parallel roads (I-35) without paying a hefty penalty. All designed to move as much traffic as possible onto the toll road. Representative Mike Krusee (R-Round Rock, TX) claims that 130 is the TTC-35 through Central Texas, but that isn’t what TxDOT’s own maps say. Their maps indicate both 130 and a new TTC-35 are to be built east of I-35 over the next 50 years, adding to the fear much more private land is going to be needed in the very near future. The 130 project is just a warm-up for Cintra to build the real TTC-35 or the NAFTA Superhighway everyone but the legislators are talking about. It may not be what the TTC proponents were hoping for, but it gives them a literal toe in the door and allows them to profit from the NAFTA traffic while continuing their long- term plans. With that out of the way, Senator Carona appeared to be back on track by letting SB 1267 out of his committee. In reality, Carona/Krusee/Perry wanted the moratorium bills slowed down so the State could get the contract with Cintra signed and have a backup toll road using 130 temporarily for the main TTC-35. It was a masterful plan. With the backup 130 plan in place, the moratorium bills could be allowed to move, even pass, if necessary. SB 1267 was allowed to pass the Senate only to be killed when the Speaker of the House Tom Craddick (R-Midland) had the bill referred to Mr. Krusee’s Transportation Committee. HB 1892, which was sent to a much more favorable House County Affairs Committee, passed through the House and came over to the Senate. It passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee and, as of the writing of this story, sits on the Senate Intent Calendar with enough time to override any veto by the governor. So, there is still hope that a moratorium will pass in either HB 1892 or in the omnibus transportation bill SB 1929. The best news is if it does what they claim – kill the TTC-35 and/or the TTC-69 through East Texas for the next two years, thousands of acres of private property will be saved from the clutches of the Corridor. And, it must do what they claim because according to a Jerome Corsi article on April 27, the Federal Highway Administration has threatened the state Legislature it will pull federal funding if the moratorium bill passes. Apparently, Mr. Krusee has pulled out the “big stick” approach and decided to bring the federal government into the fight. Hopefully, that will backfire and anger the members to continue the battle. Standing Ground is published by: Stewards of the
Range, American Land Foundation & Liberty Matters |
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