Trans Texas Corridor

There is an old saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. It would seem to be the case with the Trans Texas Corridor, the first leg in the ultimate joining of Mexico, the United States, and Canada with the NAFTA Super Highway.

Proponents say that it will merge the three countries into a cohesive unit, since we all seem to have similar values and interests. It will make the transportation of goods (like marijuana, cocaine, and illegal aliens perhaps?) simpler, and more effective.

But at what cost?

Plans for the Trans -Texas Corridor of the Nafta Super Highway call for a ten-lane, limited-access highway that will parallel Interstate 35 by running down what is now interstate 45.. It will have three lanes each way for cars, two express-lanes each way for commercial trucks, railway lines both ways for people as well as freight, and a utility corridor for oil and natural gas pipelines, electric towers, cables for communication, and telephone lines.

The idea is that it will be the main artery for the three countries for trade, communication, and transportation. The first customs stop will be in Kansas City where goods will be "officially " checked through customs. Prior to that the goods will be checked electronically, if they are checked at all. Kansas City Southern de Mexico Railroad will be able to bring Chinese imports in sealed cargo containers from the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardinas direct to Kansas City.

It sounds so simple, so easy, so non-threatening. Seems to be something like a cuddly and cute copperhead doesn't it?

The leaders of our town are excited. They see the corridor as being good for the economy of the area, which is, admittedly, experiencing rapid growth. They see dollar signs and revenue increases, raising property values and increased tax revenues. Is this realistic?

No. Not at all. You see the Superhighway is a controlled access highway. There will be no on ramps or off ramps every few feet. Instead the traffic will be able to access the highway only through exchanges with the existing interstates. At this writing only 60% of the interstates have planned exchanges with the Super Highway.

In other words, hungry travellers will not be exiting to have a meal at Joe's Diner in the midst of East Boondock, Texas. They will pass right by, no matter how big the hamburgers are, and finally be allowed to get off in a big city area where they will most likely enjoy fine dining at one of the franchises. Another blow to Mom & Pop Business.

Well, but the commercial real estate prices will go up, right? Nope. Not that either. Realtors know that real estate prices are all about location. Remember, there will be no local off ramps. There will be losses as existing businesses attracting interstate traffic pack up and move on due to a lessening of that interstate traffic. Since local traffic will be the highest percentage of traffic using the current interstates maintenance on these roads will decline and therefore the quality of the roads themselves will decline. Local economies will be upset as they lose the big tax bases provided by the franchise restaurants and gas stations located along the highways and there will be a gradual, but very real economic decline.

TxDot is acquiring 146 acres for every single mile of highway. Where are the acquiring it? How are they acquiring it? After all citizen have rights. Right?

No. The issue of eminent domain is a large one in Texas right now. As it stands, Governor Perry has vetoed every bill that sought to protect citizens from the seizure of their homes and properties. With HB2006 the Texas Legislature sought to protect property owners from misuse of eminent domain laws by requiring fair compensation and ensuring limited use of eminent domain. Perry vetoed it.

Eminent domain is a term you may not understand. It simply means that the government has the right to seize your property for the "public good" when ever it wants to. The compensation is not necessarily equal to the worth of the property..and how do you put a price on a farm that has been in the family for generations? Yet these people can be forcibly removed form their homes and forced to start again elsewhere.

Oh yes. We are in ana area that floods from being overbuilt, and not dealing with storm water issues as it is. 20 years ago the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA studied our area and suggested that the creek be deepend and straightened to ensure protection of property. It was not done at that time.

In the ensuing years houses and developments were built along this creek, with no thought to run-off, or retention ponds, and we regularly experience flooding. Some of it has been devastating. Now, a mile away they are going to take suburban property and farmland and turn it into a 1200 foot wide expanse of cement. This will increase run-off considerably yet we have not seen one report of how they plan on dealing with this. The road will disrtupt natural aquafers, ground water, and water sources in a state where water can be in short supply. It looks like TTC will be exempt from any rules of a local water district. That in itself enales them to disrupt water supplies as they see fit.

AIr pollution in North Texas has been increasing yearly. With the increased amount of traffic, and especially the increased amount of deisel/big truck traffic the air should be a lovely brown color in months. We all ready have code red days in the summer when children are not allowed to play outside because of the poor air quality, and diseases such as bronchitis and asthma are on the rise. Dallas has been cited for it's air quality more than once.

Will it beautify the state? I think not.

Maybe. Maybe not. As you read this and feel protected because it could never happen in your state, think again. Remember this is the first leg in the NAFTA Super Highway which will run through Texas and Oklahoma, up into Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota. Eventually there will be more branches so that each part of North America is connected to every other part.

Won't that be cozy? Maybe NAFTA proponents will buy us all cokes and teach us to sing in perfect harmony. God knows, we won't be able to afford them ourselves.