If the conversion of existing roads into tollways and the unbridled toll tax on highways we’ve already paid for doesn’t get your goat, how ’bout the international takeover of our public roadways? Sounds too outlandish to be true, but it’s happening right here in San Antonio and around Texas. Maybe you’ve heard about the Trans Texas Corridor (http://www.corridorwatch.org), a 4,000 mile toll road from the Mexico to Oklahoma borders. Well, the contract to build the first leg of that behemoth (which parallels I-35) that will take 580,000 acres of the richest privately-owned farmland in Texas, was granted to a Spanish company (also being called a foreign consortium) named Cintra. They’ve teamed-up with locally owned Zachry American Infrastructure to submit a bid to takeover our toll starter system.

Just a cursory read of the articles in the Express-News (Some on council wary about toll road secrecy, S.A. left out of toll road decision) in the past few months will tell you, Cintra will actually OWN our public highways for up to 50 years. That agreement would outlive most of us! Even worse, the Texas Transportation Commission mandated our local tolling authority build the toll starter system using one of these public-private partnerships (CDA agreements).

Our local leaders were promised local control if they opened an RMA, and it’s clear that was an empty promise. So not only would this toll plan fail to give us local control, it gives ownership and control of our roadways to a FOREIGN company to ration and profit from. Through the non-compete agreements these guys are negotiating, they’ll likely get control of the frontage roads and streets neighboring toll roads to ensure enough people pay the toll (Local panel works to redefine toll role). But we don’t know for sure since TxDOT is using our tax money to sue US (our own Attorney General) to keep these documents sealed from the public.

See for yourself in this article by Phyllis Spivey who notes the trend to internationalize our roads using the Trans Texas Corridor as her example:
Phyllis Spivey – INTERNATIONALIZING U.S. ROADS

Link to Houston Chronicle article here.

June 27, 2005, 8:33AM
Contractor sues to keep Trans-Texas details hidden
By RAD SALLEE
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The controversial Trans-Texas Corridor project continues to travel a hard road.

On Friday Cintra Zachry, the only developer under contract with the state for a leg of the project, asked a court in Austin to block release of its development and financing plans, which Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has said are public record.

The Houston Chronicle sought Abbott’s opinion after the Texas Department of Transportation refused to reveal its plans for the project, called TTC-35.

It includes a $7.2 billion toll road from Dallas to San Antonio that could eventually reach from Oklahoma to Mexico.

Rail tracks and pipelines could come later.

Under a March 31 agreement with TxDOT, Cintra Zachry has the inside track to build the facilities and operate them for the state for the next 50 years. When the agreement was signed, its contents were made public except for the nuts and bolts contained in the conceptual plans.

The lawsuit, filed by the company and TxDOT against Abbott, contends that these plans “represent the core of Cintra Zachry’s proprietary information” and that the company would be harmed by their release because TxDOT may still choose another developer who comes up with a better idea.

Abbott’s opinion had rejected similar arguments. Attorney Joe Larsen, who represents the Chronicle on open records matters, called the lawsuit “a waste of taxpayer money” and “simply a further effort to conceal the terms of a contract that the Texas taxpaying public will have to live with for the next 50 years.”

Cintra Zachry also took heat last week for inquiring about a low-interest loan of $320 million from the Federal Highway Administration.

The corridor idea was sold to the public as costing nothing to taxpayers.

Although a loan is very different from a taxpayer-funded grant, this type of loan carries interest rates well below market levels.

Meanwhile, the Texas Legislature may have helped project backers over one early hurdle — opposition from the Texas Farm Bureau to having rural land divided by the broad corridors.

A transportation bill from this year’s regular session says the state must compensate owners for loss of value when access to part of their property is reduced by the corridor.

The bill also bars withdrawing underground water from the corridor and taking it off-site.

Addressing another issue that caused anxiety for officials and business people along the planned route, the bill limits development on the corridor to gas stations and convenience stores.