I-69/TTC Public Comment period ends March 19, 2008

U.S. highway 281 is one of the potential routes under consideration for the I-69/Trans-Texas Corridor project. There have been many stories about what TTC-69 will be all the way from a 1200 foot wide highway, rail, utility corridor to the current plan of upgrading existing highways to handle current and future U.S./ Mexico traffic with the possible addition of special toll lanes on highways specifically for truck traffic. In all the meetings with TxDOT personnel we have been repeatedly assured existing highway lanes will not be tolled under this project.

When you look at the current and future projections under the latest TXDOT NAFTA Corridor Study released fall 2007, you can see the importance of the communities in the McAllen metro area to have a strong voice in shaping the plans for this highway project. According to this Study, Highway 281 has the third largest AAWT (Average Annual Weekday Truck) Daily volume and exceeds that volume on those study segments of U.S. Highway 59 from Laredo to Houston; Interstate 20 from I-10 to Louisiana; Interstate 30 from Ft Worth to Texarkana; and has over twice the AAWT traffic of U.S. 77 from Brownsville to Victoria.

By 2030 traffic truck traffic on Highway 281 is projected to increase from a current 929,295 Daily Truck VMT (Vehicle miles traveled) to 2,543,045 Daily Truck VMT if we do nothing to the highway infrastructure. This is the largest projected truck traffic growth on all Texas NAFTA corridors exceeding I-35 projected increase by 149%.

To insure the continued growth and quality of the transportation infrastructure it is important that TXDOT hear our opinion on the need to upgrade U.S. Highway 281. It is not too late for you to voice your opinion on where the I-69/TTC project should be located. Politics are not favoring our Highway 281 and if we do not make a strong statement we could see this important highway infrastructure located elsewhere. Public input can shape the final decisions for the proposed I-69/Trans-Texas Corridor project.

The public can still provide comments after the hearings, through the project website www.keeptexasmoving.com or by mail to I-69/TTC, P.O. Box 14428, Austin, TX. The deadline to submit comments for inclusion in the Tier One Final Environmental Impact Statement is March 19, 2008.