Open house on TTC will be Monday
By BARRY HALVORSON bhalvorson@journal-spectator.com

Area residents will have the opportunity to express their opinions regarding the I-69/Trans-Texas Corridor draft environmental impact statement during a public hearing scheduled for Monday night at Wharton High School.

An open house is scheduled from 5 to 6:30 p.m. with the public hearing starting at 6:30 p.m. Additional meetings will be held later this month at the El Campo Civic Center on Feb. 21, at Riverside Hall in East Bernard on Feb. 25 and at Sealy High School on Feb. 26.

Texas Department of Transportation Public Information spokesman Bryan Ellis stressed that, while residents can discuss any TxDOT concern with agency representatives and consultants during the open house, the public hearing will be a one-sided conversation with the public doing the talking.

He said the agenda for the actual hearing includes a presentation by Tx- DOT on the preliminary draft environmental statement, and then the floor will be opened up for public comment.

He said federal regulations prohibit TxDOT representatives from responding to the comments, but those comments will be recorded by a court reporter and made part of the record.

For those wanting responses to their comments or questions, Ellis said there will be forms that can be filled out and sent to the state. He added those speaking during the meeting can also receive a response.

"We'll take those comments from the record and provide those individuals with a response if they provide us with the necessary information," he said.

"Those asking questions during the open house will be able to talk with a TxDOT representative or one of our consultants but they won't get a written response because those comments will not be part of the public record."

Opposition groups have railed against Gov. Rick Perry's TTC plan for years, saying it was slipped into another bill at the last minute in 2003 and will eat up thousands of acres of privately-held land. The plan lets the Madrid, Spain-based company Cintra develop the first stretch of the TTC, which will roughly parallel Interstate 35 through the state's heart, the first part of a proposed 4,000- mile-long network of roads, rail, pipelines and communications infrastructure costing roughly $183 billion.

Funding for the 50-year plan would come largely from tolls and concessions. The roadway would contain up to six lanes for small vehicle traffic, four more lanes for 18-wheelers, half a dozen rail lines for goods and passenger traffic and a utility zone for pipelines and wire connections. The road's developers would have total control over which businesses and concessions are able to locate along the road, and the state's transportation department would be barred from constructing or widening highways that might "compete" with the toll roads.

In addition to making comments at the Wharton meeting or mailing in a form, a TxDOT press release states comments can also be submitted online at www.keeptexasmoving.com or mailed to I-69/TTC at P.O. Box 14428, Austin TX, 78761. All comments must be received by March 19.

More information on the meetings or meeting locations can be found on the Internet at www.keeptexasmoving.com.