6/12/08: TTC: Back to Plan A

I-69 to follow U.S. 59 and existing highways

The Texas Department of Transportation will no longer pursue the construction of new highway facilities for the Trans-Texas Corridor project, focusing instead on expanding existing infrastructure like U.S. Hwy 59.

"TxDOT is recommending that Interstate 69 TTC be developed using existing highway facilities wherever possible," said TxDOT spokesman Chris Lippincott. "That means that we're essentially dropping all of those new corridor portions from the study area. Essentially, what were doing is shrinking the environmental study down to existing highways."

The announcement, provided to news outlets Tuesday but embargoed for a press conference scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, was made public in advance of that time through a press release issued by state Sen. Robert Nichols.

The decision is a major victory for thousands of Texans who spoke against the proposed project at public hearings up and down the state earlier this year. The original vision of a 10-lane-wide strip of high speed traffic, rail and utilities met fierce resistance from private property owners and others concerned about the financial viability of toll roads in the coming years.

"I am pleased with TxDOT's decision today," Nichols, a former transportation commissioner, said in the press release. "There has been a huge groundswell of opposition to the construction of a new corridor, and I appreciate that TxDOT listened to the public."

TxDOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz will hold press conferences Wednesday, including one in Lufkin, where he will talk about details of the decision. In a letter to the Federal Highway Administration, Saenz wrote, "The preliminary basis for this decision centers on the review of nearly 28,000 public comments made on the Tier One Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The overwhelming sentiment of these comments focused on the need to improve the existing transportation network."

More than 700 people turned out at a meeting at The Fredonia in February to speak against the corridor, and similar crowds attended other public meetings throughout the state. Citizen activists have organized Web sites, blogs, petitions and marches on the state Capitol to protest the project. Only a handful of citizens, aside from TxDOT officials, have expressed support for increasing traffic capacity in Texas with new construction. The purpose of the project, according to TxDOT literature, is to address a burgeoning population and a growing amount of freight traffic traveling through Texas from Mexico.

The decision Tuesday follows the adoption by state transportation commissioners last month of guiding principles for the development of toll roads in Texas. One of the seven points affirmed that "TxDOT will always consider the use of existing right-of-way that satisfies the purpose and need of the project as a possible project location when conducting environmental studies."

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement — the document of hundreds of pages that defined the originally proposed corridor routes — suggested a 1,200-foot-wide swath of land about 10 miles east of Nacogdoches could be used for the project. Hundreds of citizens from small communities like Libby and Martinsville protested that their farmland and family and community cemeteries would be destroyed.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement, which must be approved by the Federal Highway Administration to proceed with the project, will not include use of that land, Lippincott said.

"It's FHWA's decision, but we're making that recommendation to FHWA, and it's certainly our hope that they will support us in that request," he said. "If the recommendation is approved by FHWA, plans for a separate new corridor will be dropped, and existing infrastructure will serve as the environmental study areas for future environmental reviews in a second tier."

TxDOT is expected to submit the Final Environmental Impact Study for public review prior to federal approval in late 2008 or early 2009.

Check out DailySentinel.com throughout the day Wednesday for coverage of the press conference and more analysis.