"The state needs to think ahead, acquiring enough rights of way for 70 years worth of expansion."
Lobbyists, local biz: I-69 still alive
November 30,2005
Matt Whittaker
The Monitor
Copyright 2005
WESLACO — The long-sought Interstate highway through Texas could become a reality despite a lack of federal money for the project.
The proposed Trans-Texas Corridor — a system that could be funded with public and private money to construct new roads and improve existing highways that stretch from Laredo and the Valley to Texarkana — could be paid for with tolls, bonds and utility taxes, transportation lobbyists and officials said Tuesday at a Rio Grande Valley Mobility Task Force meeting.
Once complete, TTC-69 would meet federal standards for an Interstate and could receive federal designation as part of Interstate 69, said Gary Bushell, an Austin lobbyist for the I-69 Alliance Texas.
About 1,000 miles of that 2,600-mile highway system would run through Texas, ultimately providing one main artery linking Mexico, Canada and the United States and a fast way to truck goods between major commercial centers in each of the three North American Free Trade Agreement countries.
The mobility task force is a lobby group headed by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership Chamber of Commerce to draw attention to South Texas infrastructure needs. Tuesday’s meeting of local business leaders and city and county officials was in reaction to Texas Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton’s comments at a similar meeting Nov. 8.
"I-69 is dead in the state of Texas. The road fairy has been shot," Houghton said at the meeting, saying the state needed to pony up funds.
The commissioner — appointed by Gov. Rick Perry in 2003 — stood behind his hot-button remarks Tuesday, but said Texas can look for ways to fund its TTC-69 project in partnership with the private sector.
"I’m talking about: Where’s the money?" said Houghton, one of four commissioners on the Texas Transportation Commission, which oversees the Texas Department of Transportation. "TTC-69 gets it to the ground quicker," allowing the state to finance the project with funds from the public and private sectors without having to wait for possible federal dollars in the future.
Texas’ total transportation budget is $7.5 billion, but the state’s share of the I-69 project has been estimated to be between $6 billion and $7 billion.
A portion of the I-69 corridor — from Michigan to Indianapolis, Ind. — is constructed. But the 2,000 miles south of that to Mexico remains uncompleted. The total cost for that portion is about $14 billion, said Carolina Mederos, a partner with Washington law and lobbying firm Patton Boggs, which represents the I-69 Mid-continent Highway Coalition. There are eight states involved in the I-69 project.
"I-69 continues to be the priority in the state of Texas," said Larry Meyers, president of Washington lobbying firm Meyers & Associates and a lobbyist for the I-69 Alliance Texas. But "the federal highway fairy doesn’t have much money in her pocket anymore."
While Texas would expect to get some federal dollars for construction on the I-69 project, that amount would likely be only a fraction of what’s needed, Bushell said.
Perry spokesman Robert Black has said the expectation that Washington might spend billions of dollars for the I-69 system inside the state is unrealistic. The state isn’t getting enough federal dollars to maintain the systems it already has.
"I don’t think they’re ever going to give us enough money," Bushell said.
So the state is looking to build its corridor in possibly a different way than Washington envisioned I-69. One possibility would be to acquire right-of-ways in rural areas, instead of running solely through major metropolitan centers that already have Interstate access.
If Texas is going to expand its road capacity, then the state must look beyond the gas tax reimbursement dollars that aren’t expanding rapidly enough, Bushell said.
Funding for state transportation projects could come from several sources including tolls, bonds or raising taxes and fees on water, electricity or cable bills.
Tolls would be for expansions, rather than on existing lanes, Meyers said.
In January, the Texas Department of Transportation will begin issuing requests for proposals from the private sector to improve routes under consideration for TTC-69 in South Texas that include U.S. 59, U.S. 281 and U.S. 77 to Brownsville, McAllen and Laredo and create new roads on new rights of way. Responses are expected by summer 2006.
By that time, based on environmental studies that began about two years ago, the exact routes for the state corridor could be solidified, Bushell said.
Then lawmakers could determine when construction would start and from where the money for it will come.
Some of the work within South Texas that would be needed for the larger road system project is already happening, such as the improvements to U.S. 59, U.S. 281 and U.S. 77.
As future construction projects are contemplated, Bushell said the state needs to think ahead, acquiring enough rights of way for 70 years worth of expansion.
Most of the valley expressway projects are "way ahead of schedule," said Mario Jorge, a TxDOT district engineer based in Pharr. But the U.S. 281 project in the Valley is $270 million short, and the U.S. 77 project needs $230 million more. The Pharr district plans to get those roads to interstate standards to tie into I-37.
One way to raise money, Jorge said, would be to earmark some of the cash from the Valley’s 11 toll bridges for the TTC-69 project. Currently, no money from the international bridges goes to transportation, he said.
The Valley is the only metropolitan area in the state without direct access to an Interstate highway.
"This project is not dead because it’s important to the border," state Rep. Juan M. Escobar, D-Kingsville, said at Tuesday’s meeting. "South Texas has the opportunity to move forward."
"A few weeks ago we were told that the road fairy was dead, that I-69 was dead," chamber President and CEO Bill Summers said at the meeting, an I-69 road sign sitting on a stand near the podium. "I think that we’ve revived them. It’s been going on for a long time. It’s still going on, and it will still go on."
———
Matt Whittaker covers business, economics, finance and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4422.
© 2005 The Monitor and Freedom Interactive Newspapers of Texas, Inc. www.themonitor.com
November 30,2005
Matt Whittaker
The Monitor
Copyright 2005
WESLACO — The long-sought Interstate highway through Texas could become a reality despite a lack of federal money for the project.
The proposed Trans-Texas Corridor — a system that could be funded with public and private money to construct new roads and improve existing highways that stretch from Laredo and the Valley to Texarkana — could be paid for with tolls, bonds and utility taxes, transportation lobbyists and officials said Tuesday at a Rio Grande Valley Mobility Task Force meeting.
Once complete, TTC-69 would meet federal standards for an Interstate and could receive federal designation as part of Interstate 69, said Gary Bushell, an Austin lobbyist for the I-69 Alliance Texas.
About 1,000 miles of that 2,600-mile highway system would run through Texas, ultimately providing one main artery linking Mexico, Canada and the United States and a fast way to truck goods between major commercial centers in each of the three North American Free Trade Agreement countries.
The mobility task force is a lobby group headed by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership Chamber of Commerce to draw attention to South Texas infrastructure needs. Tuesday’s meeting of local business leaders and city and county officials was in reaction to Texas Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton’s comments at a similar meeting Nov. 8.
"I-69 is dead in the state of Texas. The road fairy has been shot," Houghton said at the meeting, saying the state needed to pony up funds.
The commissioner — appointed by Gov. Rick Perry in 2003 — stood behind his hot-button remarks Tuesday, but said Texas can look for ways to fund its TTC-69 project in partnership with the private sector.
"I’m talking about: Where’s the money?" said Houghton, one of four commissioners on the Texas Transportation Commission, which oversees the Texas Department of Transportation. "TTC-69 gets it to the ground quicker," allowing the state to finance the project with funds from the public and private sectors without having to wait for possible federal dollars in the future.
Texas’ total transportation budget is $7.5 billion, but the state’s share of the I-69 project has been estimated to be between $6 billion and $7 billion.
A portion of the I-69 corridor — from Michigan to Indianapolis, Ind. — is constructed. But the 2,000 miles south of that to Mexico remains uncompleted. The total cost for that portion is about $14 billion, said Carolina Mederos, a partner with Washington law and lobbying firm Patton Boggs, which represents the I-69 Mid-continent Highway Coalition. There are eight states involved in the I-69 project.
"I-69 continues to be the priority in the state of Texas," said Larry Meyers, president of Washington lobbying firm Meyers & Associates and a lobbyist for the I-69 Alliance Texas. But "the federal highway fairy doesn’t have much money in her pocket anymore."
While Texas would expect to get some federal dollars for construction on the I-69 project, that amount would likely be only a fraction of what’s needed, Bushell said.
Perry spokesman Robert Black has said the expectation that Washington might spend billions of dollars for the I-69 system inside the state is unrealistic. The state isn’t getting enough federal dollars to maintain the systems it already has.
"I don’t think they’re ever going to give us enough money," Bushell said.
So the state is looking to build its corridor in possibly a different way than Washington envisioned I-69. One possibility would be to acquire right-of-ways in rural areas, instead of running solely through major metropolitan centers that already have Interstate access.
If Texas is going to expand its road capacity, then the state must look beyond the gas tax reimbursement dollars that aren’t expanding rapidly enough, Bushell said.
Funding for state transportation projects could come from several sources including tolls, bonds or raising taxes and fees on water, electricity or cable bills.
Tolls would be for expansions, rather than on existing lanes, Meyers said.
In January, the Texas Department of Transportation will begin issuing requests for proposals from the private sector to improve routes under consideration for TTC-69 in South Texas that include U.S. 59, U.S. 281 and U.S. 77 to Brownsville, McAllen and Laredo and create new roads on new rights of way. Responses are expected by summer 2006.
By that time, based on environmental studies that began about two years ago, the exact routes for the state corridor could be solidified, Bushell said.
Then lawmakers could determine when construction would start and from where the money for it will come.
Some of the work within South Texas that would be needed for the larger road system project is already happening, such as the improvements to U.S. 59, U.S. 281 and U.S. 77.
As future construction projects are contemplated, Bushell said the state needs to think ahead, acquiring enough rights of way for 70 years worth of expansion.
Most of the valley expressway projects are "way ahead of schedule," said Mario Jorge, a TxDOT district engineer based in Pharr. But the U.S. 281 project in the Valley is $270 million short, and the U.S. 77 project needs $230 million more. The Pharr district plans to get those roads to interstate standards to tie into I-37.
One way to raise money, Jorge said, would be to earmark some of the cash from the Valley’s 11 toll bridges for the TTC-69 project. Currently, no money from the international bridges goes to transportation, he said.
The Valley is the only metropolitan area in the state without direct access to an Interstate highway.
"This project is not dead because it’s important to the border," state Rep. Juan M. Escobar, D-Kingsville, said at Tuesday’s meeting. "South Texas has the opportunity to move forward."
"A few weeks ago we were told that the road fairy was dead, that I-69 was dead," chamber President and CEO Bill Summers said at the meeting, an I-69 road sign sitting on a stand near the podium. "I think that we’ve revived them. It’s been going on for a long time. It’s still going on, and it will still go on."
———
Matt Whittaker covers business, economics, finance and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4422.
© 2005 The Monitor and Freedom Interactive Newspapers of Texas, Inc.
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Wednesday, November 30, 2005
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