It’s a slow news day, so I’m going to clear my plate of some items that are a bit more peripheral to Route 66, if no less interesting.
“You Think Your Roads Are Bad” Department: Tim Steil sent me this link about the The Most Dangerous Roads in the World. Included are Bolivia’s “Road of Death,” China’s “Most Dangerous Hiking Trail” and the Russian-Georgian “Military” Mountain Roads, all of which make La Bajada Hill in New Mexico look like a bunny slope. However, the Russian Siberian Road to Yakutsk seems to be more of an awesome quagmire than truly dangerous. It makes the notoriously muddy Jericho Gap in Texas look tame by comparison.
Whatever It’s Worth Department: While surfing news stories earlier this morning, I thought I saw a familiar image from Sen. Barack Obama‘s announcement that he’s running for president. Sure enough, the announcement occurred at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., between Fifth and Sixth streets downtown. Both are old alignments of Route 66.
Your Government at Work Department: A government employee who shall remain nameless sent me this scathing investigative piece from the Fort Worth Weekly about the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor. If a bureaucrat is disturbed by a government program, then you know something is wrong.
For those unfamiliar with the Trans-Texas Corridor, the story’s opening paragraph offers a concise explanation:
Four thousand miles of smooth blacktop. Six open lanes of road with never a traffic jam. Four lanes for trucks to keep the 18-wheelers from bothering Joe Motorist. High-speed rail to get you from San Antonio to Dallas in just a couple of comfy hours. Oil, gas, and water lines running from Oklahoma to the Mexican border. Handy motels, shops, and gas stations to keep you from having to get off the road until you hit the state line.
The Trans-Texas Corridor, which would run roughly along I-35, is projected to be one of the biggest public-works projects ever. However, the more people learn about it, the less they like it. It’s being seen as the sweetest of sweetheart deals for companies that lease land and space along the corridor. Tolls would be a staggering 12 to 24 cents per mile range for autos. It would cut off access to land owned by ranchers. With no exit ramps, nearby towns are worried they’ll become like Radiator Springs in the movie “Cars.”
But, in my opinion, here’s the most galling part:
The initial contract signed by the Spanish firm Cintra; their partner on the project, Zachry Construction Corp.; and TxDOT for a 316-mile section of road to be built from San Antonio to Dallas, includes what’s known as a no-compete clause. In this case, it means TxDOT has agreed not to improve any roadways that run parallel to the TTC for the duration of the Cintra lease, unless those improvements had already been approved prior to the signing of the contract.
So if a locally used road close to the Trans-Texas Corridor gets potholes or needs a bridge replaced, tough.
So much for government serving the people.
As they say in the blogosphere, go read the whole thing.
If anybody gets any bright ideas about attacking 66 with a “no-compete clause,” I will organize sit-ins smack in the middle of the monopolists’ superhighway every day, at the most inconvenient possible time of day, until the clause is revoked and the secondary roads get the maintenance they deserve.
I thought our government had its home office in Washington, D.C., not Bentonville, Arkansas….