The Texas Department of Transportation's announcement that it would scrap plans for the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor project along Interstate 35 has no direct effect on the Brazos Valley but should serve as an example of the influence of public opinion, area officials said Wednesday.
Transportation officials said they had recommended that the Federal Highway Administration take no action on the proposed corridor that would run along Interstate 35. The project's proponents said it would relieve congestion and prepare the state's infrastructure for projected long-term growth.
But the idea was met with strong opposition from people angered by the takeover of private property needed to build the project and the possibility of toll roads.
"We have heard very few positive comments for I-35," said Bob Colwell, a spokesman for TxDOT's Bryan office who was involved in gathering public input for the project.
The other proposed part of the project, a new Interstate 69 that would run from Mexico north through Houston, is still being planned. Officials initially considered a path for the road that would run through Grimes County, but that possibility was dismissed in 2008 when TxDOT said it would pursue the project by expanding existing roadways.
The original idea of a road through Grimes County was strongly opposed by residents, who said the toll road would split their county in half and would not be used by locals.
"Grimes County is a rural county and the fact that [the toll road] wasn't following any of the major roadways, it was just cutting across pasture, it was going to involve a lot of rural property that is used for cattle operations," said Grimes County Judge Betty Shiflett.
County residents formed a political action committee to fight the road, and its representatives appeared at dozens of public meetings to express their disapproval.
"It was very ironic because we became closer as a family, county-wise, because everyone had joined together and they all had the opinion that this was not good for Grimes County," Shiflett said.
Brazos County officials lobbied for the corridor to pass through their area, noting that Bryan-College Station was the largest metropolitan area in the state without an interstate highway passing through. City officials said Wednesday that they had come to the realization that the roads weren't going to come and had shifted their focus to other transportation projects, such as high-speed rail.
They know they must now get public support to get their plans accomplished, they said.
"The fact that the public was so vocal and didn't want it, and TxDOT is listening to them, says a lot for the power of the people," said Linda LaSut, transportation director for the Bryan-College Station Metropolitan Planning Organization. "As these other initiatives start to move forward, we will bring them to the public with whoever the other partners are."
The Metropolitan Planning Organization's Policy Committee heard a presentation Wednesday on the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway Initiative, which proposes connecting Interstates 45 and 35 and includes a road that would pass by Bryan-College Station.
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