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NAFTA opponents seek resolution
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LJWorld
March 17, 2008
Topeka — Agreements with Mexico and Canada are setting the stage for construction of a huge highway that will gobble up Kansans’ property and jeopardize U.S. security, representatives from a wide range of groups said Monday.
“Through incrementalism, apathy and inattention, our national sovereignty is being sacrificed on a cross of greed, socialism and globalism,” said state Rep. Judy Morrison, R-Shawnee.
Morrison has introduced House Concurrent Resolution 5033 urging Congress to withdraw from further participation in the North American Free Trade Agreement and Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.
At a hearing before the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, truckers, labor officials and lawmakers and advocates from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas urged approval of the resolution.
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Committee Chairman Arlen Siegfreid, R-Olathe, said he didn’t know if the committee could comprehend all the information submitted on the subject and work on the measure within the last three weeks of the legislative session.
“I think I’ve got a little reading to do. I have not made a decision yet, but it’s getting very short,” Siegfreid said.
Owen de Long, a political consultant from Merriam, said plans are in the works to build a NAFTA superhighway that will be one-quarter of a mile wide to transport Asian goods throughout the United States that are off-loaded at Mexican ports.
De Long said it will be impossible to police the huge amount of cargo containers. “That’s how terrorists will arrive in Kansas City,” he said.
Some officials have repeatedly denied the existence of plans to build the highway.
But David and Linda Stall, founders of CorridorWatch in Texas, testified that because of NAFTA, Texas is in the middle of considering a Trans-Texas Corridor that has been criticized by landowners.
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March 18th, 2008 at 7:38 am
NAFTA is simple proof George Bush’s “War On Terror” is as bogus as our constitution is to the globalists he runs with. Amerikan Sheeple get what they deserve, time for revolution, RON PAUL is the answer for any thinking man.
March 18th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Ron Paul would help stop this, but I’m afraid he won’t get the chance. And until the sheriff shows up at their door with an eviction notice, most Americans could care less. Just like sheep, as long as the wolves only take a few of them, they’ll go right back to grazing and before long, they’ll deny there are even wolves in the world. It’s so frustrating.
March 18th, 2008 at 8:48 am
What the hell is wrong with the general public in America ? Stop watching main stream media, stop eating fast food (Sacred Heart Medical diet works great) Consider doing a fast (master cleanse). The US just sucks as socialist country. Taxes and Americans should be like oil and water. I never thought I would see the day where Americans would give up their freedom. Your founding fathers would be ashamed of what your putting up with. In the name of all that’s good, please do something….because without a Strong Free America, the rest of the freeworld is toast.
March 18th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Sheep is right. Christ is coming back on April 26 for his church and I want everyone to be ready.
March 18th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and all other states that will be affected by this intrusion should all stand up together and say NO! Take this project out of the hands of the people whom have assumed they have the authority to implement such a project. I know the people of these states are good people with a sound mind and common sense, use the phone and stand uninted, together as states to retrieve your authority from those who are forcing this apon you. This international roadway is to allow huge quantities of substandard goods to be disposed of in America, thus our ability to manufacture our own goods will wither and die, then we will be dependent apon those goods for our survival. Remember those goods have already killed and sickened not only our pets but our population. Stand together, find the right people in your state legislatures who will work with the other states around you and talk to each other, then resolve to speak as a group to stop this insanity and retake the ability to control your respective states!
March 19th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Paul (Comment #5) is absolutely right (and so is Sheep69 at Comment #3). The people of the states that will be initially affected (and there WILL be more of these types of highways…count on it). Anyone with a modicum of intelligence can foresee the NAU creeping up on us. Fast movement catches our eye…but slow movement is camouflage!!!
March 19th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Even with a Republican congressman talking and trying to get a bill against this SPP corridor, they still do the hear no evil speak no evil and see no evil about this program. They even call it a conspiracy theory, it’s amazing how many websites (govt. and private) talk about this “conspiracy” and how it will be used to improve the wealth of the US. Yea, it’s a conspiracy alright.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Three South Texas highways to be interstates
Jackie Leatherman
March 22, 2008 – 10:11PM
South Texas is not only going to get its first interstate – it is also going to get a second and a third.
State transportation officials knew one of three southern highways – U.S. Highway 281 in Hidalgo County, U.S. Highway 77 in Cameron County or U.S. Highway 59 in Webb County – would eventually become part of an interstate stretching from the Texas-Mexico border to Texarkana, in the northeast part of the state. Only Webb County is currently served by an interstate.
The state’s Trans-Texas Corridor plan calls for an Interstate 69 extension linking South Texas to points north, with I-69 eventually becoming part of a federal highway project to connect Canada and Mexico. Advocates expect the project to reduce congestion, enhance safety, expand economic opportunities and improve air quality, among other benefits.
Now, though, instead of only one South Texas highway making the cut for I-69 inclusion, all three of them have.
“All three routes are considered part of the I-69 system,” said Mario Jorge, the Texas Department of Transportation’s local district engineer. “The actual determination of which one comes first will be handled at a later date when funding becomes available.”
Early discussions included the possibility of adding new lanes to one of the highways and operating them as a toll road targeting commercial traffic, while existing lanes would remain free for motorists to use.
But Jorge said no new lanes will be added to the highways, and the major upgrades will just be overpasses.
U.S. Highway 77 is the most likely choice to become the first I-69 corridor running through the Rio Grande Valley, he said, because it will be quicker, easier and cheaper to upgrade. No final decision has been made yet, however.
“Our plan is to get an interstate to the Valley as soon as we possibly can,” Jorge said. “If 77 can get it here, we will do that.”
Of the two Valley routes, U.S. Highway 77 has more segments that are already up to “interstate standards,” which means they have more overpasses compared to U.S. Highway 281.
There also are fewer landowners along U.S. Highway 77 between Brownsville and Corpus Christi, meaning the state doesn’t have to get as many approvals from property owners to access land for construction.
“It is a lot more expensive and a lot more complicated along 281,” Jorge said. “There are way too many property owners.”
The private development team for I-69 will have the final say over which corridor is upgraded first.
A consortium comprised of Spanish infrastructure giant Cintra and San Antonio-based Zachry Construction Corp. will provide TxDOT with a cost estimate and design for the Texas portion of the I-69 corridor in the next few months, Jorge said.
TxDOT also will ask the companies to do the upgrade of U.S. Highway 77, he said.
He said “zero dollars” have been allocated to upgrade the highway. State transportation officials started cutting road projects in December, citing a budget that can’t keep up with existing road maintenance and new highway construction.
Jorge said the private developers will be funding the U.S. Highway 77 project from tolls collected in other segments of I-69 outside the Valley.
Once the consortium presents the three corridor construction plans to TxDOT, state officials will make their final decision on which route to upgrade first.
Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas met with Gov. Rick Perry last week to ask him to upgrade both U.S. Highway 77 and U.S. Highway 281 at the same time.
Salinas points to a February 2007 TxDOT study that repeatedly states that U.S. Highway 281 carries more truck traffic as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The federal government signed NAFTA in 1994 to increase trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico.
U.S Highway 281 carried 5.9 percent of the state’s NAFTA traffic. U.S. Highway 59 was slightly lower and U.S. Highway 77 carried 3.6 percent.
The study also predicts U.S. Highway 281 will have the second largest increase in truck traffic by 2030 among seven major NAFTA corridors. Only Interstate 30, running from Dallas to Texarkana, will have a larger increase, according to the study’s projections.
Salinas questions the state’s rationale for leaning toward upgrading U.S. Highway 77 before U.S. Highway 281.
“Their own studies say that 281 is busier than 77,” he said. Salinas added, though: “I’m not going to put 77 against 281 – they need to do both.”
Repeated messages left with the governor’s press office, the main TxDOT press office and Zachry were not returned Friday, which was a holiday. The Monitor was unable to locate contact information for Cintra.
U.S. Highway 281 will be upgraded, Jorge said. He just doesn’t know when. However, construction for the U.S. Highway 77 upgrade should begin in the next three to five years.
“We’re doing something very similar on 281 and trying to get the plans ready for expansion,” Jorge said.
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Jackie Leatherman covers Hidalgo County government and general assignments at The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4424.