The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) was a proposal for a transportation network in the U.S. State of Texas that was conceived to be composed of a new kind of transportation modality known as supercorridors. The TTC was initially proposed in 2001 and after considerable controversy was discontinued by 2010 in the planning and early construction stages.
The network, as originally envisioned, would have been composed of a 4,000-mile (6,400 km) network of supercorridors up to 1,200 feet (370 m) wide to carry parallel links of tollways, rails, and utility lines.[1] It was intended to route long-distance traffic around population centers, and to provide stable corridors for future infrastructure improvements–such as new power lines from wind farms in West Texas to the cities in the east–without the otherwise often lengthy administrative and legal procedures required to build on privately owned land. The tollway portion would have been divided into two separate elements: truck lanes and lanes for passenger vehicles. Similarly, the rail lines in the corridor would have been divided among freight, commuter, and high-speed rail. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) intended to "charge public and private concerns for utility, commodity or data transmission" within the corridor,[2] in essence making a toll road for services such as water, electricity, natural gas, petroleum, fiber optic lines, and other telecommunications services. The network would have been funded by private investors and built and expanded as demand warrants.
In 2009, TxDOT decided to phase out the all-in-one corridor concept in favor of developing separate rights-of-way for road, rail, and other infrastructure using more traditional corridor widths for those modes.[3] In 2010, official decision of "no action" was issued by the Federal Highway Administration, formally ending the project. The action eliminated the study area and canceled the agreement between TxDOT and ACS-Zachry.
In 2011, the Texas Legislature formally canceled the Trans-Texas Corridor with the passage of HB 1201.[4]
- ^ Crossroads of the Americas: Trans Texas Corridor Plan Report Summary Archived April 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Crossroads of the Americas: Trans Texas Corridor Plan « TTC 69
- ^ "TxDOT Press Release, "TxDOT Announces Updated Vision for Trans-Texas Corridor." Retrieved March 25, 2009". Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved March 26, 2009.
- ^ "Texas Legislature Online - 82(R) History for HB 1201".