Trans Texas Corridor Racing Ahead

[white cloud]

After Rick Perry's highway department announced the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC) route known as TTC-35 was "dead" in 2009, we find out post-election in 2010 that it, along with free trade, is very much alive and well. Canadian officials have shown renewed interest in a multi-modal trade corridor along I-35. Winnipeg recently announced its intention to build an inland port similar to those in San Antonio and Dallas. One such inland port in Kansas City has ceded sovereign United States territory to Canada and Mexico with the flags of all three countries flying over it. Officials in Winnipeg said it also intends to run a logistics and trade corridor to include rail and high speed highways all the way to Mexico as an Asia-Pacific gateway connecting to Toronto and Montreal.

It should surprise no one that former San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger and tolling authority (Alamo RMA) Chairman Bill Thornton took a trip to Toronto in 2006, partially at taxpayer expense, to promote Trans Texas Corridor-style trade connections and to be certain it includes the Port of San Antonio.
Thank you, Rick Perry.

Tullos Wells is part of the Lone Star Rail project (pushing an Austin-San Antonio commuter rail line) and also traveled with Hardberger. He also happens to work for the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani, one of the biggest players in pushing the privatization of our public roads (and represents Spain-based Cintra on private toll deals here in Texas) as well as pushing these multi-national trade corridors. Read more about the Bracewell & Giuliani connection here. It's not rocket science to conclude this is why Rick Perry endorsed Rudy Giuliani for President in 2007.

>>>>>>>>
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article/235930775-trans-texas-corridor-racing-ahead

[sonias]

1. TTC by any other name

This was linked further down in the story you posted in the OP

The August Reveiw 3/22/10
(snip)
Dirty little secrets sneak under the radar

The TTC-69 (planned to go from the Rio Grande Valley northeast to Texarkana and eventually up through Michigan) public private partnership (called CDA in Texas) was awarded to ACS of Spain and Zachry of San Antonio in June of 2008.

In August of 2009, Perry-appointed Texas Transportation Commissioner Ned Holmes asked for the TTC-69 contract to be approved by the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott. Perry wants this contract signed before the citizens of Texas can step-in to stop it. Perry's son, Griffin, works for UBS (to further connect the dots go here), the financial arm of the ACS consortium who won the development rights for TTC-69.

When TxDOT announced that TTC-35 was "dead," it also clearly stated TTC-69, also given the name I-69 to make it appear more harmless, is still moving forward. In fact, expansion of US 77 is already underway in the valley as part of the initial leg of what will be known as TTC-69/I-69.

In addition, Ports to Plains (to run from Mexico all the way to Alberta, Canada) and La Entrada de Pacifico, two other active TTC corridors, show that nothing has changed there either, except shedding the official connection by name to the Trans Texas Corridor. La Entrada, to traverse through the Big Bend area, has a disturbing new twist with the resurrection of the idea to cede Big Bend to international interests by deeming it an "international" park, essentially to join it with Mexico's "Big Bend" on the other side of the U.S. border.

Well lookie there, Ricky Perry's little boy (Griffin) is going to benefit directly from I-69. No conflict of interest there. Move along....

[Dover]

2. I'm curious where the Dems stand on the TTC-69? Anyone know?

I recall hearing Hutchison give some rhetoric about dissolving it in her run for gov, but didn't believe her for a minute. I'm guessing that a project this big is well known in the White House and Transportation dept.as well. Sooooooo....does this infrastructure that's being put in place indicate an even bigger shift?

It seems that the world is dividing itself up into large trading blocs accompanied by their own currency and I'm guessing the U.S./Cananda/Mexico will follow suit.

[sonias]

3. TTC News

I would hope they were against it, but I haven't seen anything specifically either.

There's a nice blog on everything TTC

TTC News 10/06/09
TTC-35 is dead (again) but TTC-69 lives on
Perry pulls plug on Trans Texas Corridor...but another lives on

(snip)
Perry would have us believe the announcement was because of the lack of political support, but since when does he care a flip about whether his toll road policies have political support? Look no further than his veto of eminent domain reform legislation, HB 2006, and the private toll moratorium bill, HB 1892, passed by a supermajority of the Texas Legislature in 2007 for proof.

There's never been grassroots support for his hefty toll tax increases nor the Trans Texas Corridor. The REAL reason Perry's highway department, the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT), put the nail in the coffin of TTC-35 was because it was under the threat of a federal lawsuit by a local government commission, the Eastern Central Texas Sub-Regional Planning Commission, which was formed to stop TTC-35 dead in its tracks.

There's nothing that puts more fear in a politician up for re-election than a messy, well-publicized federal lawsuit against one of his most controversial, polarizing policies. So rather than risk certain death at the polls, Perry opted for the death of his beloved special interest TTC-35. Of course, the Texas Farm Bureau's endorsement of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison for governor played a role in the timing of the announcement.

Nice toon on the site too: