TxDOT creating advisory committees for TTC input

Advisory committees are being developed to provide public input on where the Trans-Texas Corridor should be located and what it should look like.

The committee will enhance public involvement during the ongoing Trans-Texas Corridor environmental studies and provide guidance on how the corridor can be developed to best serve local communities.

"Through the advisory committees, local officials and citizens can be more involved in the planning process than ever before," said Ted Houghton, member of the Texas Transportation Commission. "They will have a huge say in shaping the Trans- Texas Corridor."

The Texas Transportation Commission approved rules establishing the committees which will not only make recommendations regarding overall corridors stretching across the state but also for individual corridor segments.

Committee members are expected to be named early next year.

Separate committees will be established for both TTC-35 and I-69/TTC and will each have up to 24 members which may include property owners, business owners, representatives of local governments, technical experts and other interested citizens.

The proposed TTC-35 would run from Laredo to Oklahoma and include or parallel Interstate 35.

I-69/TTC is being considered in a 650-mile-long study area stretching from far South Texas to extreme Northeast Texas.

Additional committees will also consider specific segments of the larger corridors. Each committee may also have up to 24 members which will be appointed by local entities or groups within the corridor segment.

All advisory committees will report their recommendations to TxDOT's executive director, Amadeo Saenz.

In other action at its December meeting, the commission continued a discussion on TxDOT's cash flow situation.

For the last several years commissioners have warned that the cash flow for traditional infrastructure development is running out.

The cash flow situation, coupled with the need to increase funding for maintenance, became a formal discussion item at commission meetings beginning last May.