August 16, 2006
U.S. Senator Sends Warning Flag Up
on New Texas Transportation Network
By
Mike Hailey
Capitol
Inside Editor
Republican U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
warned Wednesday that the network of highways
proposed for Texas has the potential for problems
and needs further study before new roads are built
on land that will have to be acquired from private
property owners.
"I'm very concerned about the Trans-Texas
Corridor," the senior U.S. senator from Texas
said after an appearance at a Texas Association
of Counties conference in Austin.
Hutchison called for a "full hearing"
with more opportunity for "public input"
on the massive transportation project, the new
routes that have been proposed for it and the
process of eminent domain that will make it possible
for the government to obtain the right-of-way
necessary to thread new roads through the state.
"That's not been done yet," the senator
told reporters after speaking to county officials
from across the state.
Hutchison, who faces Democrat Barbara
Radnofsky in her bid for another six-year
term, received a standing ovation from the county
judges and other local officials at the meeting
before and after a speech that touched on tolls
roads, immigration and taxes - the three issues
that Texas voters in polls have been rating as
the state's most pressing concerns. Hutchison
as a candidate has been polling well herself -
with a new Rasmussen poll showing her lead over
Radnofsy widening from 27 points in July to 30
points in August.
Hutchison's call for a more deliberate approach
to the development of a new highway system through
Texas rekindled memories of a race for governor
that Hutchison had seriously considered but decided
not to make before announcing a year ago for re-election
instead.
A gubernatorial campaign would have pit Hutchison
in a GOP primary battle against Republican Governor
Rick Perry, who's been the Trans-Texas
Corridor's leading advocate since unveiling the
proposed network about five years ago. Hutchison
will have another opportunity to pursue a race
for governor if she's interested when the office
is up for grabs again in 2010. Perry is not expected
to run again in four years if he wins re-election
this fall with a victory over Democrat Chris
Bell and a pair of independent candidates
- Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn
and musician Richard "Kinky"
Friedman. Lieutenant Governor David
Dewhurst, Secretary of State Roger
Williams and others have been mentioned
along with Hutchison as possible gubernatorial
contenders in 2010.
Hutchison said she's adamantly opposed to the
conversion of existing thoroughfares into toll
roads, saying taxpayers who've already paid to
have highways built shouldn't have to pay more
each time they travel on them. She said she didn't
see a need for a toll road that would run from
South Texas to San Antonio as part of a package
of new routes that are under consideration.
In addition to the higher price of travel that
toll roads will require, Hutchison warned that
taking property from private interests in the
paths of new highways is "a very serious
matter" that demands a more thorough examination
before public officials exercise the right to
do so. The senator, however, acknowledged that
tolling might be an appropriate way to help fund
the development of new highways through the state.
The Trans-Texas Corridor, according to plans,
includes a swath of land for a new highway that
would run parallel to Interstate-35 from Laredo
to the Oklahoma line. A second new stretch would
link South Texas to Texarkana as an extension
of Interstate-69. Both those segments of the project
would be funded through private investment and
financed ultimately by tolls. The Texas Department
of Transportation has selected Cintra Concesiones
of Madrid, Spain for the initial development of
the TTC in a partnership with San Antonio-based
Zachry Construction.
In her speech to county officials, Hutchison
also touted a guest worker plan that she's co-sponsoring
with Indiana Congressman Mike Pence
as part of immigration reform under consideration
in the U.S. House. Hutchison insisted that the
program that she favors would not be a form of
amnesty as some critics have suggested. She said
the plan that she and Pence have offered would
help ensure a supply of workers for jobs that
most Americans are not interested in taking. | 
