The controversial Trans-Texas Corridor is dead, but officials say they will still develop transportation projects that "move Texas forward."


Tuesday, Texas transportation officials unveiled a new corridor program, called Innovative Connectivity in Texas/Vision 2009. Projects that had been developed under the heading of the Trans-Texas Corridor will now become a series of individual projects. For example, Loop 9 in Dallas will be known and developed as Loop 9, not the "donut" of TTC-35. Interstate 69 will be known and developed as Interstate 69, not Trans-Texas Corridor 69.

"The Trans-Texas Corridor, as a single project concept, is not the choice of Texans. So we've decided to put the name to rest," said Texas DOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz during his opening remarks at the Fourth Annual Texas Transportation Forum Tuesday in Austin. "To be clear: The Trans-Texas Corridor as it was known will no longer exist."

The Trans-Texas Corridor was Texas Gov. Rick Perry's 50-year plan to build 4,000 miles of toll roads along with rail, utility and pipelines to make Texas the crossroads of North America. His vision was that the Trans-Texas Corridor would crisscross the state with highway and rail connections in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mexico. Plans originally called for dedicated truck lanes, separate passenger vehicle lanes, rail lines, and utility zones. Tolls would have been used to help fund the project. But the plan was highly controversial, drawing fire from rural landowners and the Teamsters union, among others.

The new plan calls for corridor widths to be limited to 600 feet. The corridor modes, locations and sizes will depend heavily on guidance from Corridor Advisory Committees and Corridor Segment Committees. The plan will consider improving existing transportation resources, whenever possible, rather than breaking new ground.

"We will still partner with local governments and entities, and where appropriate, the private sector, to get needed projects on the ground," Saenz said. "We will still use all the financial tools that have been authorized by law to get projects to Texans sooner rather than later."

The move follows last summer's announcement that the controversial project was being scaled back. (See "Trans-Texas Corridor Plans Scaled Back, 6/16/2008)

There are currently two TTC projects under development: I-69/TTC, which extends from Texarkana/Shreveport to Mexico (possibly the Rio Grande Valley or Laredo) and TTC-35, which generally parallels I-35 from north of Dallas/Fort Worth to Mexico.

For more information: www.keeptexasmoving.com/index.php/ttc