TEMPLE-- Voters would have to give their approval before any
tax-funded highways are converted to toll roads under a sweeping transportation
bill that Gov. Rick Perry signed today. The bill is a follow-up to a
current law that allows for the creation of the Trans-Texas Corridor, Perry's
ambitious $184 billion vision of thousands of miles of tollways, railways, and
utility lines crisscrossing the state.
The plan, however, had come under fire from some property owners.
Perry said the bill provides greater clarity and significant protections to
property owners to ensure they are treated fairly when the state builds new
roads.
State Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Round Rock, said the bill he sponsored is meant to
restore the public's trust in the corridor plan.
The bill says that no tax-funded highway will be converted to toll roads
unless it is approved by the voters. It also says that if a new road cuts
through a landowner's property, the state must offer to buy the remaining tract
of land if it has little or no value to the owner. And if the property
loses value as a result of the corridor plan, the state must provide fair
compensation for the damages.
Current law already requires that landowners who participate in the
Trans-Texas Corridor are either offered a lump sum payout for their land or
long-term royalty payments similar to those offered in the oil and gas industry.
"When I first proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor, my goal was to give Texas a
world-class transportation system that moves people and goods faster and safer,"
Perry said. "Today, Texas is taking a significant step to bring state law
into accordance with what my vision for the Trans-Texas Corridor has been all
along."
Political Advertisement Paid For By the Mike Krusee Campaign,
P.O. Box 28051, Austin, Texas, 78755
