CorridorWatch website promotes awareness of Trans-Texas Corridor
Web site designed to keep public informed
03/22/04
ANN RUNDLE
Victoria Advocate
Copyright 2004
LA GRANGE - Linda Stall, a resident of Fayette County, has launched a Web site that she says promotes awareness of a statewide transportation project known as the Trans-Texas Corridor.
"Our goal is to educate people all over the state about what this project entails, so that they can make their own assessment as to how it will impact their community, and whether it benefits them or doesn't," said Stall, who along with her husband David, created corridorwatch.org.
"Then they can communicate with their legislator in their area and send that state representative or that state senator back to Austin - maybe before they go back and talk about school finance - with a message on this project."
The Trans-Texas Corridor is a proposed 4,000-mile statewide transportation network that includes roads, rails and a dedicated utility zone.
The corridor, which would have separate lanes for car and 18-wheeler traffic, would be up to 1,200-feet wide, and it would parallel parts of Interstate 35, Interstate 37 and the proposed Interstate 69 from Denison to the Rio Grande Valley.
Stall said her concerns about the project include leaving the public out of key decisions, such as the environmental review process and condemnation, limited access for local businesses along toll ways, water rights, property tax losses for rural counties, and lack of awareness.
"We have used the Internet as a tool to reach people all over the state, and the membership now reflects, I think, 24 counties across the state as far away as the Panhandle, where people have looked at our website and have been concerned equally, either with the effect directly on them or indirectly," Stall said.
The corridorwatch.org Web site includes links to an explanation of the Trans-Texas Corridor plan, a route map of the corridor, legislation pertaining to the transportation project and newspaper articles written about the project. The home page, which has the words "Challenging the Wisdom of the Trans-Texas Corridor" at the top, includes quotes from city and county officials from counties such as Fayette, Bee, Cooke and Jeff Davis, and cities such as Dallas, Hillsboro and Alpine.
"It's a great resource. I mean it's really not just an opinion site, it's really a tool," Stall said, explaining that her feelings toward the Trans-Texas Corridor project are not a personal vendetta. "It is bigger than 'cutting across my backyard.' It is not an 'in my backyard' project. It is not an 'in my backyard' objection. This is a change in the way the whole state functions, and a change for the worse."
Ann Rundle is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-277-6319 or cueroadv@txcr.net .
The Victoria Advocate:www.thevictoriaadvocate.com
03/22/04
ANN RUNDLE
Victoria Advocate
Copyright 2004
LA GRANGE - Linda Stall, a resident of Fayette County, has launched a Web site that she says promotes awareness of a statewide transportation project known as the Trans-Texas Corridor.
"Our goal is to educate people all over the state about what this project entails, so that they can make their own assessment as to how it will impact their community, and whether it benefits them or doesn't," said Stall, who along with her husband David, created corridorwatch.org.
"Then they can communicate with their legislator in their area and send that state representative or that state senator back to Austin - maybe before they go back and talk about school finance - with a message on this project."
The Trans-Texas Corridor is a proposed 4,000-mile statewide transportation network that includes roads, rails and a dedicated utility zone.
The corridor, which would have separate lanes for car and 18-wheeler traffic, would be up to 1,200-feet wide, and it would parallel parts of Interstate 35, Interstate 37 and the proposed Interstate 69 from Denison to the Rio Grande Valley.
Stall said her concerns about the project include leaving the public out of key decisions, such as the environmental review process and condemnation, limited access for local businesses along toll ways, water rights, property tax losses for rural counties, and lack of awareness.
"We have used the Internet as a tool to reach people all over the state, and the membership now reflects, I think, 24 counties across the state as far away as the Panhandle, where people have looked at our website and have been concerned equally, either with the effect directly on them or indirectly," Stall said.
The corridorwatch.org Web site includes links to an explanation of the Trans-Texas Corridor plan, a route map of the corridor, legislation pertaining to the transportation project and newspaper articles written about the project. The home page, which has the words "Challenging the Wisdom of the Trans-Texas Corridor" at the top, includes quotes from city and county officials from counties such as Fayette, Bee, Cooke and Jeff Davis, and cities such as Dallas, Hillsboro and Alpine.
"It's a great resource. I mean it's really not just an opinion site, it's really a tool," Stall said, explaining that her feelings toward the Trans-Texas Corridor project are not a personal vendetta. "It is bigger than 'cutting across my backyard.' It is not an 'in my backyard' project. It is not an 'in my backyard' objection. This is a change in the way the whole state functions, and a change for the worse."
Ann Rundle is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-277-6319 or cueroadv@txcr.net .
The Victoria Advocate:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Monday, March 22, 2004
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