TxDOT Public Hearing Dominated by Conservationists

Last night's public hearing on the Transmountain West project really helped to define the differences between conservationists on the one hand and those who want to build a road without looking at any design alternatives nor considering the design flaws.

It was clear that those in favor of preserving the Scenic Corridor greatly outnumbered those who are willing to just tear-up the scenery, the animal habitats and the ecosystem. 23 people spoke for conserving and preserving land in the Scenic Corridor. Most of these speakers said that they favored road improvements but not at the expense of losing the Scenic Corridor. All seemed to emphasize that it was not the improvements to Transmountain that was the issue - but how those improvements would be made.

One speaker made it clear that preserving the Corridor would not stop improvements for Transmountain but the fear of losing $85 million for those improvements had stopped the City Council from preserving that land.

Those in favor of giving TxDOT a carte blanche for their cookie cutter design (TxDOT builds roads like McDonald's builds golden arches - one size fits all) repeatedly said that safety and less congestion were the reasons for bulldozing ahead. Most of these speakers are employed by companies standing to gain if the project goes through.

Avid mountain biker, teacher and 4th generation El Pasoan, Brent Sanders, easily debunked their arguments:

"I find it interesting that a project that touts itself on safety - safety at Resler, safety at Paseo del Norte, safety at Plexxar - has forgotten about safety at the State Park entrance. It really makes one wonder who this project is looking after. El Pasoans wanting to enter the State Park will have to cross 2 lanes of oncoming traffic.

"I have also heard others comment about how building overpasses, and gateways are going to relieve traffic congestion and pollution. I find that to be very interesting because the most congested areas that we have in El Paso are the gateways at the Hawkins, Airways, Lee Trevino, intersections. These also happen to be the most dangerous intersections in the city. So is this project helping congestion? Or safety? I worry this project is only for the benefit of a few at the expense of our tax dollars and our scenic mountains. Those of us against this freeway as it is currently being presented, bisecting our beloved mountains, are not trying to halt development in this city that we all love. Rather we want to preserve our mountains while still encouraging businesses to locate to a scenic, beautiful, desirable El Paso that we can all be proud of."

In her comment, Shari Bonart reminded everyone that it is not just unsafe to enter the State Park, it is unsafe to leave the Park - especially to make a left turn out of there. Take a look at a video Shari helped to produce that shows just how much more unsafe the current TxDOT design will make entering and exiting the State Park:

Judy Ackerman took on the proposed "animal crossing" by TxDOT. It is planned to occur between Paseo del Norte and Plexxar which might become a developed commercial area if the preservation of the Scenic Corridor fails. Animals would have to walk through developed areas, across a major thoroughfare (Paseo) enter the corridor and cross over to more commercial development. It isn't going to happen.

Sierra Club member, Bill Addington, reported that an attorney had been retained to review the

Federal Highway Administration official, Gregory Punske, was in attendance. I gave him copies of both sets of the petitions.

Finally, speaking about the petitions, discussion is now underway to push to get more signatures. One petition (roadways) only missed certification by 70 signatures.