Letter Writing and the next round of TxDot public meetings

Hey Y’all,

    We just got word that the next round of TXDOT La Entrada public meetings will be on these dates in February: Tu 19th in Alpine, Weds 20th in Presidio, Mon 25 Midland, Tu 26 in Ft. Stockton. They’ve put all the “alternative” routes on one map, but it isn’t on the TXDOT website as of Friday evening. It’ll probably be up in the coming week.

    Here’s a press release about our Letter Writing Parties that will occur on Saturday January 26th, and some posters too. Feel free to pass on the press release to any media outlets that should have it, especially in Austin and San Antonio. (Please let me know who it went to!) Also pass it on to friends across Texas who might be interested in writing letters.

    TXDOT is still looking at alternatives so the more we can highlight sending La Entrada through El Paso before the meetings above the better.  Also, on Monday both the Brewster County Judge and the director of the Rio Grande Council of Governments expressed support for the El Paso option.

    Anyone who wants to host a party should contact me and I’ll send you our email packet with sample letters and information flyers. (Small affairs count too!) If there’s already a party in your town see about volunteering, too.

    As you may have noticed we don’t have a high-dollar PR firm promoting the parties, so any help at all in getting the word out makes a huge difference.

    Thanks,

Pete Smyke

Here’s the text of the release; the attachment has a map and contact info as well:

On Saturday, January 26^th, from 1-3 pm, Texans will gather at several locations across the state to write letters to TXDOT asking them to divert the La Entrada al Pacifico truck corridoraway from its planned route through the Big Bend. This event is being sponsored by the Reviva! Collective and Big Bend Letters, two Alpine groups fighting the LEAP corridor.

“Letter-Writing Parties” 1-08-ltr-party-release.doc will take place at the following locations:

Alpine La Trattoria - 901 E. Holland Ave.

Austin Jo’s Coffee - 1300 S. Congress

Jo’s Coffee - 242 West 2nd St.

Denton Jupiter House Coffee - 106 N. Locust Street

Ft. Davis Twin Souls Coffee House – 209 N. State St.

Marathon Eve’s Garden Bed & Breakfast - Ave. C & N. 3rd

Marfa Marfa Coffee & Wine - 103 Highland Ave.

San Antonio Ruta Maya on the Riverwalk - 107 E. Martin St.

Terlingua Family Crisis Center of the Big Bend - “Next to the Porch in the Ghost Town”

Big Bend communities have worked hard to develop their region’s tourism and retirement relocation economy, based on clean air, small town charm, breathtaking vistas, and a lack of traffic, congestion, and pollution. Many residents feel that a truck route through their small towns will destroy this economy, to say nothing of the region’s traditional ways of life and unique and fragile ecosystems.

Information about La Entrada Al Pacifico will be available at the parties, or folks can visit www.stopthetrucks.org , or www.revivacollective.org . Both sites examine the numerous issues surrounding the placement of a truck route through one of Texas’ most wild and unique regions, and contain sample letters and contact information for state and federal elected officials and TXDOT.

Folks who are interested in hosting a letter-writing party on January 26^th can contact bigbendletters@yahoo.com .

The Texas portion of the La Entrada Al Pacifico trade corridor was officially designated by the legislature in 1997 as following US 67 from Presidio, through Marfa and Alpine to Ft. Stockton, and from there via US 385 and I-20 to Midland. This route was named a Federal High Priority Trade Corridor in 2005. (Texas H. B. 2115, the LEAP authorizing legislation, literally suspended the Texas constitution to avoid having the bill read on the Texas House and Senate floor; it passed on the local and consent calendar.)

While the originating traffic for this route was to have come from Topolobampo, Mexico on the Gulf of Baja, the difficulty of crossing the Sierra Madre Occidental (including Copper Canyon) indicates that Chihuahua City will likely be the starting point for most trucks following this route into the United States.

The Letter-Writing Parties seek to point out to TXDOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz that the current LEAP plan is projected to traverse heavily mountainous terrain on two lane roads through Mexico and the Big Bend. However, trucks traveling from Chihuahua City through El Paso to Midland have four-lane highways the entire way, and existing railroads on this route can create even greater efficiencies (and reduce pollution) handling bulk shipments.

Additionally, the six-lane Tornillo-Guadalupe Bridge, scheduled for completion in 2010, will bypass El Paso to the east and provide swifter access to I-10 (and I-20) through a state of the art Immigration and Customs facility.

El Paso (and Juarez) officials have embraced cross-border trade as an integral part of their area’s economic model and are actively seeking and planning for increased traffic, in marked contrast to the Big Bend’s relatively limited trade infrastructure

TXDOT is currently conducting a feasability study of the LEAP truck route based on the corridor described in H. B. 2115. At the study’s first public meeting in March of 2007 in Alpine, nearly four hundred Big Bend residents attended, with a show of hands revealing that everyone except one person opposed the LEAP corridor.

A second public meeting will be held soon to discuss alternatives TXDOT has identified to the original LEAP plan. (These alternatives will be posted on that agency’s website before the second meeting.)

The Reviva! Collective and Big Bend Letters encourage Texans and folks everywhere to communicate with TXDOT soon regarding the La Entrada Al Pacifico trade corridor at tpp_txdot-leap@dot.state.tx.us (note underscore after “tpp”) or 1-800/517-4652, or better yet join us on January 26^th at any of the locations listed above.

Letters written at the January 26^th events will be gathered by the Reviva! Collective and presented to TXDOT officials at the next public meeting of the La Entrada Al Pacifico feasability study.

Update Technical Advisory Commitee

It sounds like we are finally having rational dialog with HDR and TxDot regarding truck freight volumes, current and projected future volumes that might pass through the Presidio PofE. Megan Wilde with the Big Bend Sentinel has provided a thorough reporting of discussions at last Thursdays meeting in Alpine. The next public hearings will be held early next year after Presidio traffic data has been analyzed and “fine tuned” as HDR  Brian Swindell termed it. Stay tuned for the fine tuned.

Ports in Southern California

Labor unions at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are trying to clean their air. The harbor trucking industry has aprox. 15,000 older trucks which cause 30 - 40 percent of the dirty air. Labor forces are trying to replace these older rigs cleaner operating newer, 2007 trucks. The problem they’ve encountered is that most of those trucks are owned by drivers—most of them Latino immigrants—who make about $12 an hour. These are independent contractors at the bottom of the harbor food chain, and they can’t afford to upgrade their own rigs. Increased associated costs could impact costs of products sold in Walmart and Target.

Mexican Truck Pilot Program

Today is when Mexican trucks under a “Pilot Program” will be allowed to travel beyond the 20 mile limit of the border. Refer to the Land Line Magazine for details. It remains to be seen whether Mexican trucks will adhere to our safety standards. Will the Mexican trucking companies carry adequate insurance? What will the US safety inspectors be checking when these trucks cross the border?

Letter Writing

“Big Bend Letters” project forms to oppose La Entrada Al Pacifico

The mission of the Big Bend Letters project is to raise awareness across Texas of the La Entrada Al Pacifico plan, by facilitating letter writing from residents and friends of the Big Bend to La Entrada Al Pacifico decision makers and other concerned parties.

The Big Bend Letters project is seeking residents and friends of the Big Bend who would like to participate in an ongoing effort to raise awareness across Texas of the proposed La Entrada Al Pacifico truck route. The contacts for the project are: bigbendletters@yahoo.com or 432/837-9087.

The project, intended to coordinate with other groups opposing La Entrada, will create three volunteer letter writing groups to reach out across Texas. The groups will concentrate on contacting legislators and state agencies, statewide interest groups that frequent the Big Bend (hunters, birders, bikers, etc.), and statewide media, respectively.

Big Bend Letters is designed to avoid time consuming meetings and let writers work on their own schedule. The goal of the project is to cut through the red tape and let the unique voices of residents and friends of the Big Bend speak on the region’s behalf. Coordinating those voices can ensure that decision makers and others hear them loud and clear, and the research component will help educate Texans about La Entrada and the issues that surround it.

Each group will be composed of overall coordinators, several researchers, and numerous writers. Coordinators and researchers will identify letter recipients, and relay that information by email or phone to the writers on a regular basis, who will then write and send their letters. Writers may also receive talking points for their correspondence if desired.

This organizational model offers volunteers a convenient, high-impact way to oppose La Entrada based on their personal schedule, without the need for time consuming meetings. It can also accommodate as many volunteers as would like to sign up. The numbers of folks involved will matter, as the point of the loose organization is to let a lot of folks each contribute a little bit. This will help inform lots of friends and neighbors indirectly, and should keep the organizational burden from falling unevenly to a few folks.

 

The tasks of each group will include:

Writers: Write and send at least one letter per week

 

Researchers: Identify key players in each group’s field, their contact info and role in LEAP

Assist Coordinators in passing out contact info to writers

Keep information current; Keep volunteers’ information current

 

Coordinators: Coordinate overall group functions

Mentor and assist writers as needed

Work with researchers and others on research strategies

Coordinate regularly with the other writing groups and LEAP opponents

Collect copies of letters for archival purposes if possible

 

It is essential that residents of the Big Bend create an ongoing means of informing the rest of the state about the Motran/Txdot plan for La Entrada Al Pacifico, enlist the aid of as many Texas residents as possible to oppose the Motran/Txdot plan, and take action to implement better alternatives.

Anyone interested in participating in the Big Bend Letters project should contact bigbendletters@yahoo.com or call 432/837-9087.

Tragic Truck Accident

Dear Susan,

This past July 20th, my cousin was killed in Sweetwater, Texas.  A 18-wheeler, driven by an illegal alien ran a stop sign and hit my cousin’s truck.  Darren Stevens was 42, left behind  two teenage sons and a wife.  He was the owner/operator of the Sweetwater Livestock Auction.  I have never seen a more largely attended funeral.

As law enforcement and medics were trying to get Darren out, as he was not instantly killed, the truck driver disappeared.  His truck trailer had overturned and was not operable.  This accident happened near a truck stop and I am assuming he probably caught a ride.   He has not been found yet.  His wife is in El Paso, but he has not shown up there.  I am sure he is in Mexico.   I understand that the truck came from Laredo.  I do not know the name of the company or if it was a Mexican truck.  I will learn more of the details later; as the family is still in shock and grieving and not discussing this right now.

Trucks are dangerous enough without having someone who may not be familar with our traffic laws or highway intersections.

I don’t know if this story can be used for any purpose.  I just wanted you to know my family has been greatly affected by this totally avoidable accident.

Thank you,

Patricia Reid

Alpine, Texas

pareid@hughes.net

Air Quality Issues with Diesel Exhaust

Our good friend, Joe Goldman of Alpine has provided a very detailed article ultrafine-microparticles.doc on health related impacts of diesel exhaust.

The Latest News

The Big Bend Sentinel, again has done an excellent job of reporting the facts. The latest edition contains insightful articles by Fran Sage, a Guest Commentary by Mary Bell Lockhhart, Mr. NIMBY himself, Jack McNamara, and my local heroine, Sterry Butcher.

The articles are available on the Big Bend Sentinel website and on this blog.

Fran Sage has forward the attached june-28-2007-la-entrada-al-pacifico-or.doc on the latest of La Entrada featured in the Sentinel.

Mary Bell Lockhart of Alpine, has also contributed her opinion: mbh-letter-la-entrada.doc

“Technical Advisory Committee”

HDR Consulting Engineers and TxDot have invited a select group “Technical Advisory Committee” for one on one meetings. The earlier meeting scheduled for June 5th and 6th was cancelled for whatever reason. See previous post “Show us the Numbers”.

HDR Consulting Engineers have identified the members of the Technical Advisory Committee who will be allowed to participate. HDR has mailed to the committee members a package with a “feedbackrequest.pdf” and containing questionnaire-p1.pdf, questionnaire-p2.pdf, two copies of leap-alt-base-map.pdf showing alternate routes and leap-study-objectives.pdf.

As we proceed with the latest TxDot/HDR technical advisory committee meetings, which are closed sessions to the media and the general public, one gets the feeling, of a predetermined outcome. Where is the data that reflects the projected truck traffic to justify construction of a 4 lane trade corridor? Where is the data that reflects the projected truck traffic to justify construction of alternate routes? The data should consider the retrofit of the Panama Canal and the resulting trade goods that will continue east without stopping on the west coast of Mexico and the US. This is some of the required research and data collection that should be completed prior to any rational discussions of alternate routes and trade corridors.

I recommend those of us who have been excluded send responses of the questionnaire regardless, voicing recommendations and opinions.

Send to Ms. Peggy Thurin, P.E. c/o La Entrada al Pacifico Project Team, 17111 Preston Road Suite 200, Dallas, TX 75248

Meet in Alpine to Write Letters

Susan Curry of Alpine writes:

Dear Friends and Neighbors,
>
> On Saturday afternoon, June 9 from 3-5 pm, the Stewards of the Big
> Bend and The Bread and Breakfast will host an information and letter
> writing meeting at the Bread and Breakfast, 113 W. Holland Avenue in
> Alpine concerning the current status of long haul trucks coming
> through our Big Bend communities. Please join us and tell your friends
> and neighbors to join us. Attached is a no-trucks-meeting-flyer-2.doc that I hope you will help us distribute.
> Please forward this to everyone you think will be able to help this
> very important cause. Many thanks!
>
>> YOUR HELP IS NEEDED - let your voice be heard - WE CAN MAKE A
>> DIFFERENCE