HBA-JEK H.C.R. 89 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.C.R. 89
By: Oliveira
Transportation
2/12/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Transportation legislation enacted by the United States Congress over the
last decade has identified 43 highway corridors as being nationally
significant for moving people and commerce.  Five of these corridors are
located wholly or partially in Texas, and are eligible for priority
construction and increased funding. Various Texas segments of High Priority
corridors 18 and 20 are part of a proposed multistate highway that has been
officially designated as Interstate Route I-69.  This highway is federally
certified as a natural route for trade under the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), and is a vital transportation corridor for the
interstate and international trade of Texas and the United States.  

The Texas portion of the proposed 1,800 mile long highway extends more than
950 miles.  The expansion of the Texas segment of High Priority Corridor 18
alone will cost $593 million dollars and will extend I-69 along U.S.
Highway 281 and U.S. Highway 77 in the lower Rio Grande Valley connecting
them to U.S. Highway 59.  The Texas Transportation Commission states that
it can fund just 33 percent of all needed road improvements for this
project.  While Texas can draw from a variety of funds for this project, an
infusion of additional federal funds may help move the corridor's date of
completion forward. 

Construction on the Texas portion of I-69 cannot begin until the
environmental study is completed in 2007, even though the Rio Grande
Valley's increasingly stressed transportation infrastructure will continue
to accommodate the significant freight traffic arising from NAFTA during
this time.  House Concurrent Resolution 89 urges the U.S. Congress and the
U.S. Department of Transportation to give priority funding to the
construction of the Rio Grande Valley portion of I-69 in an effort to
complete its construction ahead of schedule.   

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this resolution
does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Concurrent Resolution 89 urges the Congress of the United States and
the United States Department of Transportation to give priority funding to
the construction of the Rio Grande Valley segment of Interstate Route I-69.