Texans protest TxDOT's plans for corridor, tolls
CBS 42 Reporter: Alexis Patterson
Email: adpatterson@keyetv.com
Last Update: 4/05 10:58 pm

Trans-Texas Corridor Protest
Click link and Vidio is on the right.

According to the state, toll roads are really the only way to meet the transportation needs of our skyrocketing population. Not everyone buys that argument.

Toll opponents marched through downtown before rallying at the Capitol.

"We don't need all the tolls," says Nina Speairs, who attended the rally. "Most of those roads have already been paid for, but secondly, the Trans-Texas Corridor is a monstrosity and a travesty."

Exact routes are yet to be determined, but the proposed 10-lane corridor would incorporate new and existing highways, with separate lanes for big trucks. It will include railways and utility cable paths.

"This world we live in now is a fast-paced world, and I think [the Trans-Texas Corridor] is going to help," says JD Alcazar.

The corridor will be built largely, if not exclusively, as toll roads.

"The toll roads help me by way of saving a lot of time," says Alcazar. "They help me save actually on fuel which is a good thing these days."

Not everyone is convinced.

"They want to take 580,000 acres of prime Texas farm- and ranchland and put it into that Trans-Texas Corridor," said Speairs.

The Texas Department of Transportation admits it may resort to seizing property.

"It's going to take their land and destroy their heritage and agriculture," said Hank Gilbert, an organizer of the anti-tolls rally.

But landowners are compensated, and the Department of Transportation says that's how roads are built.

The Texas Department of Transportation tells us it isn't feasible to just expand existing roads. The department believes the corridor will make driving safer, route hazardous cargo away from populated areas, and create economic development.

"That's just marketing baloney," said Speairs.

The Department of Transportation says if opponents have better ideas, it wants to hear them. The department is accepting public comments on one element of the corridor for about two more weeks.

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