Commissioners discuss transportation issues

By CHAD BLACKSHEAR
Herald-Banner Staff

GREENVILLE November 25, 2008 12:40 am

— The Hunt County Commissioners Court received a presentation regarding transportation issues in an effort to get the county’s participation in a business league aimed at influencing the development of transportation policy when it met Monday morning.
David Dean, of Dean International, a public policy consultation firm, discussed the benefits of Hunt County’s participation in the Tex-21 Program, which the county is currently not a part of, and the county’s participation in a high speed rail program.
“The organization was formed on the premise and theory that on transportation policy, that cities and counties should work together, as opposed to working at odds,” said Dean.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Phillip Martin expressed concern that many public roads could become toll roads, and Dean admitted that was the mood at both the state and federal level. Martin added that it was in the best interest of the county to join the program in order to represent its needs.
According to a 2008 activity report, Tex-21 has conducted four trips to Washington, during which time participants met with members of the Tex-21 Congressional Caucus, in an attempt to increase the rate of return on federal gas tax dollars for Texas to a level of 95 cents per federal tax dollar paid.
Participants also advocated the indexing of the federal motor fuels tax, increasing the number of CBT and USDA officer in Texas, and supported the authorization of funds for rail freight and passenger security improvements.
Tex-21 addresses multimodal transportation, and works with legislators on both the state and local level to assist in the development of transportation policies.
Tex-21 is a for-profit organization, and includes numerous member cities, counties, transit, port and transportation authorities, international trade corridors, universities, and other organizations.
Dean invited the commissioners to the next Tex-21 meeting, which is scheduled for Dec. 11 at Dallas Love Field Airport
Dean also informed the commissioners about membership in the Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corporation.
“Our vision of high speed rail in Texas is called the Texas T-Bone”, said Dean. “The state of Texas today has 24 million people that live here,” said Dean, and cited Steven Murdock of the Census Bureau, who estimated that the projected population of Texas in 2040 could be 52 million. “Of the 24 million people in Texas today, 70 percent of them live in the area of the Texas T-Bone,” said Dean. “By 2040, 78 percent of Texans will live in those counties.”
The Texas T-Bone corridor would connect the Dallas-Fort Worth area to Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and various communities in between.
“High speed rail will revolutionize the way people move in this state,” said Dean. He added that it would tie into the I-30 corridor, which includes Greenville, and connects the DFW area to Texarkana, Little Rock, and Memphis.
In other actions, commissioners:
• Accepted the quarterly report for the Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Texas;
• Approved the transfer of fixed assets between the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office and Hunt County Constable Precinct 1;
• Accepted the results of the recount for the Hunt County Commissioner, Precinct 1 race;
• Proclaimed November 2008 Hunt County Adoption Awareness Month;
• Approved a resolution extending Hunt County’s agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for proposed truck route designations in Precinct 4;
• Approved a request to upgrade electrical power distribution facilities along and across CR 2400 in Precinct 2;
• Approved to upgrade and improve a portion of CR 708, with labor to be provided by Collin County;
• Approved a request to upgrade a 400-foot portion of CR 3826 from rock to oil sand; and
• Gave consent to spend $51,425 for the purchase of 17 DVM-500 Digital Video Mirror Kits from Digital Ally.