David K. Stall
08/01/2005
With traffic congestion and gridlock afflicting ever-greater stretches of roadways, state transportation planners are at a loss to fund the massive infrastructure improvements needed to keep America moving. Texas Governor Rick Perry believes he has a solution: a sprawling public/private network of supersize toll roads, rail, pipelines, telecommunications lines and utilities known as the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), a 50-year project that will cost Texas taxpayers a staggering $184 billion.
The TTC creates state-sponsored monopolies for the infrastructure, utilities and economic development initiatives that lie in its path, reducing private property rights and government accountability to the status of roadkill. Perry thinks this project will be a transportation cash cow. Others believe his plans are just bull. Either way, across the country, transportation officials, desperate for options, are keeping a close eye on its progress.
Once built, the TTC network will divide the state north to south like a giant river. It will feature 4,000 miles of 1,200-foot-wide right-of-way with at-grade, controlled-access toll roads. There will be 10 lanes for cars and trucks; six rail tracks, including high-speed passenger and freight rail; and space dedicated to underground and aboveground utilities. In an effort to avoid high-priced urban land and to reduce urban congestion, the TTC bypasses every city, large and small. Every crossing will require an overpass more than a quarter-mile long. Project economics will dictate the number and location of crossings, and many feel the adverse impact on rural mobility will be tremendous.
Channeling Robert Moses
Upon submitting its plan for the TTC three years ago, the governor’s Transportation Commission realized that sweeping changes to state law would be needed to bring the mammoth project to fruition. A year later, lawmakers granted every requested statutory change. The new laws authorize various leases, fees and franchises, almost without limit. Additional land can be purchased or taken by eminent domain along the entire 4,000 miles for any commercial, industrial or agricultural purpose that generates revenue.
Through 50-year concession agreements that will be negotiated and signed in secret, appointed state officials can create public obligations to secure financial benefits that might otherwise look like a commercial bribe. In a public-private partnership that smells of a monopoly, Texas has already attracted a Spanish partner to develop the first 600-mile element. Furthermore, officials concede that certain noncompete clauses may be included in concessionaire agreements. The private partners will effectively use the power of the state to gain an unfair competitive advantage.
By delegating authority to borrow, tax (toll) and spend to the five gubernatorial appointees who will oversee the TTC, the governor has eliminated accountability to the electorate. The risk of runaway spending looms large with both costs and revenues off-budget and free of legislative approval or oversight. Government transparency has been scuttled under the guise of protecting the concessionaire’s proprietary interests.
Unlike the present-day interstate highway system, the project can deny abutting property owners along the closed corridor access, which is reserved exclusively for the state and its partners. Development can only be accomplished on state-owned land under long-term lease agreements. It is a lose-lose proposition for private landowners who could be forced to sell much of their property and then find themselves unable to develop the remaining frontage.
While the state reaps the benefit of participating in concessionaire revenues, local communities stand to suffer huge financial losses. Counties, school districts and other local taxing entities will lose real property tax as each mile of the TTC consumes 146 acres of private land. Others will suffer losses that result from the change in traffic patterns that draw cars and trucks away from existing highways and the businesses and communities they serve.
Whether cash cow or bull, the TTC raises many unanswered questions. Texas is testing the limits of state power, putting the state’s interests above those of property owners, the private sector and local government. The consequences of this, good or bad, will impact generations of Texans and may establish a dangerous standard for highway development nationwide.
David K. Stall is a local government management professional and cofounder of CorridorWatch.org.