Planes, Trains and Automobiles: High-Speed Rail Plan Steams Ahead
Published Jan 24, 2008
Union Pacific trains will be joined by high-speed rail to enhance transportation in the Valley.
The T-bone is generally considered a good cut of meat, but if Research Valley leaders have their way, the Texas T-Bone high-speed rail route will cut its way from Houston to Dallas via College Station.
Officials from the area have joined forces to form the Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corporation (THSPRC), a grassroots, action-oriented group working toward a compre hensive solution to traffic challenges. That solution includes adding to excellent transportation arteries already in place – Union Pacific rail and Easterwood Airport now serving The Research Valley.
“We can’t rely on one system,” says John Happ, executive director of Research Valley’s Easterwood Airport and a member of THSPRC. “We’ve got to have a multi-modal approach of roads, air and rail to meet the needs of the future. This balance is critical to the success of The Research Valley and the two cities [Bryan and College Station].”
Michael Parks, Brazos Valley Council of Governments assistant executive director, agrees.
“When you look at the triangle of Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Antonio-Austin and Houston, The Research Valley is in the center,” he says. “With a regional airport, rail and an increased capacity on the highways, we will be in a position to accom modate growth and the resulting economic prosperity that comes with it.”
The proposed “T-bone” rail route cuts through the center of the triangle formed by Houston, Dallas and San Antonio and goes from Houston through Bryan-College Station to Temple. Happ says it would serve larger numbers of the Texas population, while utilizing a route where approximately 60 percent of the rail right-of-way already has been acquired. Partners involved in the effort are providing services out lining costs, route finalization and changing technologies in the rapid-rail movement.
Transportation along the I-69 corridor, known as the NAFTA Highway, is expected to grow by 30 percent over the next 20 years, while population in the region is projected to increase by some 50,000 residents in less than a decade. Work is well under way in expanding all of the major corridors serving The Research Valley, but, says Parks, even under the best circumstances, “it takes 10 to 15 years to get from planning to construction.”
Thanks to strong local leadership, those pieces are coming together in Brazos Valley, not only through the high-speed rail initiative but also through the Brazos Valley Trans portation Management Center, a think-tank operation that has secured $1 million in federal funds and has brought Brazos Valley governments, Texas A&M, Easterwood Airport and the Texas Department of Transportation together to look at future transportation infrastructure needs.
“The essence of this partnership is to work together both legislatively and interagency-wise to develop transportation solutions,” Parks says. “I’m involved because I believe in local decision-making. This allows the region to determine how these pieces of infrastructure will look and where they will go.”
Story by Betsy Williams
Photo by Todd Bennett
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