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The I-69 corridor plan ignores years of support and planning for the growth of Texas and the commitments of its leaders. This initiative has caused many good leaders to become un-focused on what is best for Texas and their constituents for the benefit of a foreign global goal. There is a better way. Instead of pursuing an un-popular, ill-conceived and apparent land grab, lets stick to developing priorities on the local level and work with the legislature for what is best for Texas. For years the Texas Department of Transportation has worked through the counties, the council of governments and ultimately the legislature to develop priorities deemed in the best interests of Texas. This process has been hijacked and our attention diverted to the development of a road that serves the interests of a private group, Mexico and Canada more than Texas. For example, we must have forgotten the recent past. Hurricanes Rita and Katrina taught us a valuable lesson we should not forget. Not only do we need to move goods and petrochemicals to and from the Gulf Coast, we need to move people. This is urgent. When 300,000 people are stranded on I-45, at a standstill, with a hurricane bearing down on Texas can you imagine what would happen in a war or terrorist attack. These people were stranded because there are very few east to west high volume corridors in Texas. One, Interstate 10, is likely to be shut down during a major hurricane. The grid-lock caused by evacuating the coast combined with the need to move military to these areas would be a nightmare. Texans would be served best by increasing the capacity of most of the roads going north from the gulf connecting to east/west highways. Having a new interstate going east and west across the middle of Texas would vastly improve our ability to evacuate the gulf coast, ship goods and defend our country. A road connecting Fort Hood and Fort Polk linking to Interstate 20 or 10 in West Texas has long been envisioned and supported. A road of this nature would be funded by the United States as a strategic highway. Ensuring that, during times of crises, troops and materials can be moved from military bases to the ports is vital. Next: Texas has acquired miles and un-told miles of right of way that have never been developed. Restoring proper transportation planning is critical when resources are thin. We must advocate that the Texas legislature re-gain control of the highway planning process. Highway planning should be prioritized from the local level (county government), regional level (council of governments), state level (Txdot) and then those up-dated priorities approved and funded by the legislature every two years. Great leaders of years past recognized that the best decisions of government are made by the government most accountable and thus closest to the people. Restoring a bottom up system of planning will stop a few well-connected folks in the executive branch from hi-hacking our highway system for personal gain. Our founders recognized the irresistible temptation to take from the public domain by the executive branch without the oversight of the legislative branch. Clearly this perversion of power is causing a major revolt across the state. Next: The power of imminent domain should never be used for the direct benefit of a private party. A private party is going to be conveyed a monopolistic economic interest with the I-69 toll road. Utilizing the states power of imminent domain to confer a monopoly to this party is repulsive to the core of American values. This is nothing less than you would expect in countries like Mexico, Russia, Venezuela and parts of Africa. Privatization can go only so far. There are core functions of good government. Privatization is good when it increases efficiency by the benefits of competition so long as it does not place a disadvantage on the general welfare of the people. In the case of highways crossing the state, operating them in the private sector for profit constitutes a monopoly. Monopolies work against the general welfare of the people and therefore should be avoided. For the most part, owning and operating roads is a core government function. Trans-continental highways are a function of the United States of America and should be funded at that level. Toll roads have proven themselves efficient on a relatively small regional scale. There is no law that prohibits a private party from purchasing right of way and building a road for profit. If the prospective owners of the I-69 road want to build a road and it makes sense for them, let them buy the land for it and do it. It is repulsive for these people to ask our leaders to do this using the duress of imminent domain to grant them a monopoly. |
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