Texas DOT unveils draft environmental study of Trans-Texas Corridor

Officials in Texas recently unveiled the long-anticipated draft environmental report for the Trans-Texas Corridor and according to the Express-News of San Antonio, highway advocates of that city liked what they saw.

The Trans-Texas Corridor is a multi-use statewide network of transportation routes that would incorporate existing and new highways, railways and utility rights-of-way. Separate lanes are envisioned for passenger vehicles, large trucks, freight railways, high-speed commuter rail and utility corridors for pipelines and electric and communications transmission lines. The corridor is expected to be built over a period of 50 years.

The first leg of the corridor would generally follow I-35 and go along existing highways. Routes in Dallas and Fort Worth remain to be determined.

The preferred route is 521 miles long and ranges from 4 to 18 miles wide. It straddles I-35 from Laredo to San Antonio, hugs Southeast Loop 1604, continues within 2 to 5 miles east of I-35 in Central Texas, meets the freeway just north of Waco and veers east around Dallas.