Here are just a Few Reasons Why:

• The Plan is based on uncertain assumptions.  The plan is predicated on
  on Texas population growth, not traffic projections.  There is no demonstrated public demand for corridors that circumvent the metropolitan traffic generators.  Texas needs roads that serve Texans.  That means building roads where the people are.
• It's designed to generate revenue first and provide transportation second.  from the beginning Governor Perry proposed the TTC as a revenue scheme for Texas Transportation projects.
• It turns private land into State land -Excessive taking.  More than one-half million acres will become government property used not only for transportation but also as State owned rental property in direct competition with private development.  It takes land well in excess of what is required to accomplish the goal of providing transportation and utilities.  The width cannot be justified.
• It doesn't solve the urban congestion & traffic problem.  Traffic generators are located within the urban centers (jobs, housing, and marketplaces).  A corridor that circles these generators cannot provide additional capacity for drive-time congestion.  While some through traffic may be rerouted to provide relief, the new feeder will provide additional destination traffic from an ever increasing distance.  The effect more than overtakes the gain in capacity.
• Adverse economic impact.  It takes economic assets away from Texas communities by rerouting the flow of commercial trucks and limiting traveler access to local services, lodging and attractions.
• Private Interests v. Public Interests.  Puts private partner revenue generation ahead of legitimate public interests.  TX Dot's new partner (Cintra) has a record of putting profits ahead of public safety.
• Uninformed decision making.  The opportunity for informed public comment and full NEPA participation is seriously restricted by the state keeping project design details already outlined and defined by the concessionaire secret.
• Loss of local property taxes.  State owned TTC land will be removed from county and school district tax rolls.  County and district taxpayers will shoulder the burden of making up the losses.
• Local jurisdictions, predominantly rural, will be burdened with the cost of providing infrastructure, governmental services and emergency services to a massive state owned project that may generate no local revenues while the state and their concessionaires reap the benefits of tolls, fees, and charges.
• It creates a 'soft' terrorism target.  This is not the time to put so many critical infrastructure elements in one place.  A single act could impact transportation, communications, and utilities.  As proposed the corridors are in the least equipped and prepared communities to respond to an act of terrorism or accidental incident.  The threat to life, property and the environment are tremendous.
• Dividing the State.  Corridors will divide rural Texas making it more difficult to get from one place to another.  The economic factors that impact the incentive to provide crossings will limit access across the corridor.  Longer travel distances will result in loss of community cohesion, increase travel cost (fuel_, increased vehicle generated pollution, and increased emergency response and transport times.  Corridors will create barriers to the natural movement and migration of wildlife.
• Potential for tremendous liabilities created by secret Comprehensive Development Agreements.  It is impossible to understand and explore the range of possible concerns and issues that such agreements may present when their content is secret.  These secret agreements will impact generations of Texas.
• High cost of Tolls.  Tolls are projected to equate to $3.85 per gallon of gasoline.  At just 15-cents per mile the increased cost to the traveling public is more than ten times that of the present gasoline tax.  Everyone will pay the new toll tax.  Tolls charged to commercial carriers will be passed through to end users and consumers.  Tolls collected by a private concessionaire for decades will include substantial private profits that will not be reinvested in Texas communities and will not benefit the public.
• Air pollution.  Increased highway speeds 980 MPH) mean greater fuel consumption and more air pollution.  Increased non-corridor travel distances also mean greater fuel consumption and more air pollution.

            www.CorridorWatch.org.  Fayetteville, TX 78940-5468 .  Linda Stall
sAY wHAT?

CorridorWatch.org, is an organization of concerned Texans and public officials who question the wisdom of the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Our mission is to increase public awareness and understand of the Trans-Texas Corridor and its impact on Texas and all Texans.

TURF
Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom  

Defending citizen's concerns about Toll Roads & the TTC 

COMMENTS DUE:  Wed. , Mar 19, 2008
SUBMIT ONLINE:

http://ttc.keeptexasmoving.com/comments_questions/comments_I69.aspx

SUBMIT BY MAIL:

I69/TTC, P. O. Box 14428, Austin, TX 78761

TTC-69 HEARINGS, WHAT TO EXPECT...  Open House from 5:00pm to 6:30pm.  Hearing begin at 6:30 pm.

There will be a TxDOT presentation, then you will have the opportunity to make oral comments at the microphone or you can submit comments in writing at the hearing itself or at the link above.  All oral testimony at the microphone is limited to 3 minutes, so be prepared to be concise.

The  purpose of the public comment as part of federal law known as the National Environmental Policy Act (or NEPA is  ) is to identify problems with the purpose and need of the project and to identify any areas they have neglected to study.

TxDot has told us any comments not directly related to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) will NOT be part of the OFFICIAL LEGAL RECORD.  So as tempting as it is, the public comment period is not the time to sound-off against TxDOT, your comments need to try and stick to the flaws or holes in TX Dot's environmental review (which is woefully inadequate!).

Some guidelines to help you know what areas are appropriate for comment.  

 Say you want the "No Action" Alternative. 

TxDOT is NOT presenting expansion of existing freeways as an alternative in this round of hearings.  The ONLY two alternatives currently being evaluated are NO ACTION and a NEW CORRIDOR (officially called the "New Location Corridor Alternative")

The DEIS states:
"In order to develop and analyze use of Existing/planned Transportation Facilities Alternative, a greater level of information, date, and detailed analyses beyond the scope of Tier One is required.  Therefore, this alternative will automatically be advanced into Tier Two for detailed development and evaluation, if the project proceeds."

FIRST AND FOREMOST...TxDOT ISN'T FOLLOWING THE LAW:
TxDOT has not followed the law (known as the national Environmental Policy Act or NEPA) in how it conducted the environmental review for TTC-69.  They are not coordinating with local, state, and federal officials until the next environmental review called Tier Two.  It is unlawful for them to fail to study the below impacts in the Tier One review.

That means TxDOT has failed to :
 1) consider indirect and cumulative effects of the TTC on the economics, social, and environmental surroundings.

2)  coordinate with federal, state, and local officials!

After TxDOT gets approval for Tier One, they'll never again have to study the effects of the whole project on the entire state.  They'll get away with chopping it up by segment only studying local effects piece by piece (easier to get approval).

In your written and oral comments, be sure to emphasize that TxDOT must start the environmental study process over again in order to comply with the law requiring coordination with local, state and federal entities AND the study of the cumulative effects of the TTC-69 on Texas as a whole and on the country (since TTC-69 will go from Mexico through TX to Canada).

Other areas the law deems relevant for comment are impacts on:

1. Farmland  and effects on agriculture (both taking so much land out of production and impacts like dividing ranches/farms and making access to the other side burdensome or impossible.)
2. community travel patterns and access to businesses, schools, or your property
3. community and the potential of social disruption (like cohesiveness and threat to cultural heritage of  your community.)
4. emergency services, delivery and access  (like EMS, fire, police)
5. economic impact ( including businesses and the ability of their customers to patronize their b business due to access issues or financial constraints due to tolls, diminished local retail & sales tax revenue, regional economy as a whole with money sucked into transportation expenses that won't be available for eating out or buying consumer goods/services, loss of taxable property and diminished value of property due to lack of access and/or undesirability of being near massive toll roads)
6. disadvantaged folks (cost of tolls & fees: greater travel distances)
7. air quality, noise, water issues, and floodplains (including impact of large impervious surfaces)
8. wildlife, threatened & endangered species (including threat to animal migration patterns, etc.)
9. historical and cultural sites
10. cemeteries, including family burial grounds, and archaeological sites
11. hazardous waste sites
12. visual quality