7/17/2006

STATE REP. JOE C. PICKETT: TxDOT trampled on us

As printed in the Austin American Statesman 7/15:

TxDOT trampled on us

On June 29, a group of elected officials from the El
Paso area appeared before the Texas Transportation
Commission to oppose the creation of a Regional
Mobility Authority. Our regional Metropolitan Planning
Organization voted against creating a toll authority.

The Congress member in our area opposes creating a
mobility authority, as does the county judge-elect. Do
you think the Texas Department of Transportation
honored the decision of the local planning
organization? No way. It is the state's way or the
highway, I mean tollway. It gets worse, 30 minutes
after the vote was taken in El Paso against a mobility
authority, a TxDOT commissioner called a road
contractor and threatened to kill a pending project if
they didn't get the mobility authority in line. Then
TxDOT threatened the state of New Mexico by saying it
would kill a joint railroad relocation study because
some of our planning organization members who voted
against the mobility authority are from New Mexico.

STATE REP. JOE C. PICKETT
Chairman El Paso area
Metropolitan Planning Organization
El Paso

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