Tolling Texans: Impact of Trans Texas Corridor lingers
Link to article here.
Fourth in a four-part series. See the first article with interactive map here. See the second article on why the state is moving toward tolling here. Read the third article on more cities turning to tolling here.
Tolling Texans: Impact of Trans Texas Corridors lingers
By Aman Batheja
Texas Tribune
December 3, 2012
Nearly 11 years ago, Gov. Rick Perry offered a vision for Texas that was covered in toll roads.
At a news conference in Austin, Perry delivered the first of hundreds of pitches for the Trans-Texas Corridor, a 4,000-mile network of privately operated toll roads, railroad tracks and utility lines that would stretch across the state. The projected timeline for the project: roughly 50 years. The price tag: $175 billion.
With just a year as governor under his belt, Perry proposed the most expensive transportation project in the country. As originally planned, it could have redirected national trade routes, sparked development across rural Texas and provided a big boost to public transit.
“Some might ask, ‘Is this too big?’” Perry said at the time. “I say nothing is too big for Texas when our economic security, our environment and our quality of life are at stake.”