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Building High Speed Rail faces challenges aquiring property. Rail takes a lot of land. 97% of Texas land is private owned. To build rail between Houston and Dallas requires crossing land owned by many landowners.
Landowners are skeptical about eminent domain. They favor fairness and view eminent domain as inherently unfair. When eminent domain is exercised by a private company the skeptism raises to higher level like DefCon 1.
These challenges were highlighted in an inter…
Ron Kirk will serve as senior advisor. He joins Robert Eckles and Tom Schieffer.
Central Texas Railway has been hosting public forums to discuss its projected Dallas to Houston route. Landowners along the route have raised concerns.
Building the bullet train requires land. Most land in Texas is privately owned by Texans, who love their land. Acquiring land presents challenges. [
Posted ineminent domain, railways
Texas is moving ahead with privately built high speed rail. The first public meetings began this week to discuss the proposed Dallas-Houston leg. Federal Railroad Administration and TXDOT jointly held the meetings. At issue were: For the list of public meetings:
Posted inrailways
San Francisco’s Prop A on November’s ballot has the primary goal to reduce the number of cars and car lanes. San Francisco is willing to spend $500 million, in its tiny 9 mile by 9 mile area, to add bike lanes, improve CalTrain down the peninsula, update traffic signals to move buses more expeditiously, and improve pedistrian paths. [SFGate and SF Chronicle] High Speed Rail is moving forward in California. The California Supreme Court this week cleared the path for high speed rail after challengers attempted to block the bullet train. The $68 billion dollar bullet train is moving forward. [WSJ]
Posted inlegislative trend, railways
The statewide Prop. 1 for $1 billion in additional funding for state transportation projects will be joined on the November ballot by local transportation funding propositions. Austin has a $1 billion funding package of its own to expand roads and additional rail. [KUT] Every expo has its day. The days October 12-15 this year are the days for the APTA transportation expo. [APTA] Preserving farmland is high on the minds of West Texans. The Brazos River Bottom Alliance says Texas leads the nation in disappearing farm land. Texas without farm land is like Texas without cowboys, a seeming impossibility. [Odessa American] Imagine if Texas Legislators had to authorize eminent domain for a project to move forward? California hasn’t gone that far to make the Legislature approve eminent domain, but the California Public Works Board is voting to condemn a feed store, a vacant lot, and other Fresno properties to build the San Francisco-Los Angeles high speed rail line.
Posted ineminent domain, railways
Texas High Speed Rail First Public Meetings
A Proposition to Remove Cars from the Road?
CA Supreme Court OKs High Speed Rail
Prop1 Joined by Local Transportation Propositions on November Ballot
Houston Metro Hosting Premier Transportation Expo
A View from West Texas
California High Speed Rail requires Approval of Eminent Domain from Sacramento
Boll Weevils Eradicate Rail Yard, not Cotton Farms
Cotton farmers in Mumford want to unleash their enemy, the boll weevil, on a neighboring rail yard. In reality, the cotton farmers want to stop a Rail Yard from acquiring their farm land by eminent domain. Farmers are concerned about the harm of industrialization on the farming industry and the environment. [Texas Tribune]
Posted ineminent domain, railways