For all the talk by Brownsville administrators and elected officials about going green and promoting mass transit and rail service to link this border city with the rest of the country, it was enlightening to see last week that not one of this city's elected representatives was on hand last Wednesday at the Texas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail meeting held at the McAllen Public Library.
But you know they will be sure not to miss the Mr. Amigo events of Charro Days.
However, would you believe that former Brownsville mayor Pat Ahumada was on hand to hear the update on the project that would link South Texas with Oklahoma City?Ahumada, who had participated in putting together the Environmental Impact Study when he was mayor, saw passenger rail as a perfect answer to provide evacuation routes for South Texas residents in case of a hurricane or other natural disaster.
As South Texas has learned in previous hurricane events, the road system is not adequate to handle large-scale evacuations.
To others, the availability of passenger rial, higher-speed rail or high-speed rail provides an answer to the congestion of the interstate highway system, particularly the I-35 corridor between San Antonio, Corpus Christi and the rest of South Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley.
The www.txokrail.org website states that "Texas’ population and economy are booming, with much of its growth occurring in the already-congested I-35 corridor. While the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) continues to explore roadway improvements to keep us and our economy moving, other options, such as passenger rail service, fit the needs of many travelers and would reduce demand on the state’s roadways.
Through the Texas-Oklahoma Passenger Rail Study, TxDOT is studying how passenger rail service could fit this corridor.
TxDot expects to complete its evaluation of a range of passenger rail service options in an 850-mile corridor from Oklahoma City to South Texas by the end of 2014 after the completion of a service-level environmental impact statement and a service development plan.The study will consider the corridor as a whole, as well as three discrete portions of the corridor:
*Oklahoma City to Dallas/Fort Worth
*Dallas/Fort Worth to San Antonio
*San Antonio to Rio Grande Valley/Corpus Christi/Laredo
The TX-OK Rail project team has reviewed possible rail routes and types of service and has recommended a few alternatives for further study. The McAllen meeting was Brownsville's chance to review the recommendations and let TxDOT know if these were the right choices to study in more detail.
It's a tragicomedy that the guy we threw out on a rail was the only one who cared enough to take his time from his life as a private citizen to attend and give his opinion.
13 comments:
They people of de balley have no interest in anything beyond the Sarita checkpoint, much less going there by rail. De balley is a bubble that nobody leaves or thinks beyond. We are isolated, provincial and English deficient.
You can notice from the proposed route that Brownsville will be sucking hind teat, as usual, having to go to McAllen first, then SA. Not even to Corpus Christi, then on to SA. You can be sure that cargo will also take that route to Corpus and that Brownsville will be sucking hind teat, again, unless the Port people get their act together.
You can stop at San Antonio. No body in their right mind would visit the valley, much less cross over to Mexico. The Valley is like the Golan Heights, a no man's land and for a very good reason.
We are also Spanish language deficient !
(We are isolated, provincial)
You're from San Benny, huh? You've at least driven through there, it is obvious.
LOL!!! Rail service in Brownsville? Never work! These residents ride the trains all the way from Mexico to get here and they're tired of that shit! Ha ha ha ha
Juan that shows you that no one at the city or county cares? they only care about their paycheck evey two weeks, and the hell with the citizens that pay taxes for them to have a paycheck, a puros cool arrows.
There are a lot of people in the Valley who are interested in a passenger train to El Norte...Houston, SA, Dallas, anywhere to El Norte. A night train to any of these cities in El Norte would be a winner. We can't expect Brownsville to be a hub....but for McAllen and the rest of the Valley there are many people who would like to see a passenger rail service. Brownsville is happy being isolated in its own dung...so we can't expect the city to be interested in things that lead us out of our dung pile.
I was also there Juan. A nobody first time politician and was upset that there was no effort from the lower valley to be involved. For those that think we r isolated you maybe right if you consider methods used such as cars and busses but by flight I can be in Houston in 1 hr Dallas in 1 1/2 hrs and by fast speed rail in san Antonio in 1 hr. If your out there complaining about the lower valley always being behind mcallen and think you have a vision to change that, then I encourage you to run for office. I'll support you, and stand by you. Im sick of graduating our brightest only to have them go to prestigious universities and no opportunity for them to come back. They end up staying in metropolitan areas the have a vision for the future and promises that are kept. This rail system is only part of the bigger growth all politicians should have when we envision the future of the RGV. It was unfortunate to see no socalled public servants with titles and constituents at hand there. If I had more time and knowledge of this meeting I would have submitted a request to have my h.s. seniors attend. They seemed to have more interest in the details of this program than any current standing politician.
Luis Gonzalez for pct. 4 JP (Los Fresnos, Rancho Viejo,Olmito, Laureles, & Bayview)
It speaks volumes of the current Bad-ministration of Tony Soprano Martinez that no one attended for Brownsville. I guess da mayor was too busy plotting what city real estate to give away to the oil-rich UT system. Yet Ahumada went to learn not earn. Can someone say "Recall Tony!"?
I am in favor for rail service here in the Valley but I think that the route should include the Brownsville/Harlingen areas and the McAllen Area. I think the people would take advandage of this rail system especiallity with connections in San Antonio area where there is an Amtrac System already set up. I have travelled before by rail way and it was an experience and fun. I think that a rail system in the Valley could generate more jobs, more infracture and more tourism.
Just my opinion...lets seen what our polititicans do!!!!
place a passenger rail from the b&m bridge to the flea market with stops at alton gloor (walmart/sams), Morrison (home depot/kohls), fm802 (gonzalez park), Boca Chica, Palm Blvd (ITEC). It will get tons of ridership since most Mexicans are used to public transportation. what do we have to lose since the tracks are already there? where are our leaders on this. do they still want a tollway here? a 100 foot wide bike trail? they only maintain about a 20 foot wide strip on the existing trail. they can place a trail next to the existing tracks!!
juan i read somewhere that it will cost about $1 million dollars per mile is that correct? Now it may seem like a Great idea but then how does the state plan to fund these types of projects? Will it be all public funds or will it be a public/private ventures? just wondering?
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