Privatization of Higways and Roads

[Throckmorton]

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First customs office (a MEXICAN customs office) on the NAFTA highway is Kansas City. Trucks coming from Mexico go right across the border with a speed pass.

"Once complete, the new road will allow containers from the Far East to enter the United States through the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas".

I guess this will end the debate about whether Dubai Ports World should own our ports. We will no longer HAVE any ports!!!

This doesn't give you the least bit of concern???

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Good points. Also, since the first customs stop will be located in Kansas City one can easily see how this will become a major pipeline for the transport of illegal aliens and drugs. As long as they offload anywhere between Monterrey,Mexico and Kansas they probably won't be detected.

FWIW, this is a huge issue in TX, if not nationally.

 

[brianl703]

This country is sacrificing itself at the altar of cheap labor.

 

[Gary Allan]

I thought that we exported employment and imported poverty in exchange. It seems to be working quite well

 

[toocrazy2yoo]

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what does this have to with oil? Why is a poltical thread not deleted?

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Who cares? It's CARS. Different, but same.

What are you, the Milk Monitor?

It hasn't been deleted because the kids are getting along in the sandbox.

 

[cousincletus]

This country sure seems to be self-destructing to benefit just a handful of people. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class has both of them on their backs.

 

[Pablo]

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This country sure seems to be self-destructing to benefit just a handful of people. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class has both of them on their backs.

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I wouldn't say the middle class has the rich on their backs. Where's the proof of this? I guess it depends on how you define "rich". Right now it seems the screw the pooch income level is roughly $80-$120K - of course depending on AGI. Not poor, but still need to pay taxes with the rich.

 

[Gary Allan]

On who's back it's being supported on isn't the issue. It's how many people are being shifted downward in income level through attrition of vacating jobs, Pablo. You're going to find yourself as one of a decreasing number of "last men standing" that will be in/on your level of (relative) affluence. Many of your peer group, of which none of you feel truly "advantaged", are being purged to lower rungs for no other reason for the lack of their need. This is population 'recycling' where the economic span is stretched/skewed downward. You have a hard time perceiving it ..since you too feel under fire. I made $65k in 1980. I doubt too many here were at my par adjusted for inflation. I never felt all that "special" ..everywhere I went there were other people spending money. That is, until I didn't make $65k anymore

 

[427Z06]

May I suggest we stay on the topic of "Privatization of Highways and Roads"?

May I also suggest we collect some more facts? I posted some info on gasoline taxes. Someone mentioned property taxes. What else is there? Diesel fuel tax? Vehicle registration fees?

 

[Gary Allan]

Noted

 

[gedcruise]

brian,
One of the best ways to get someone to speed up is to pass them. You'll often note that they are accelerating as you pass them. They will then tailgate or pace you for a bit, forcing you to drive at real gut-check speeds to lose them.
I spend about eighteen miles of my twenty-five mile each way commute on rural two lane. I generally don't pass unless the car I'm passing won't even maintain 55 mph. It is amazing how the 55 mph driver is suddenly transformed into Kyle Petty, drafting you, after you pass them. I don't brake check. I like all of my cars too much.

 

[brianl703]

The good thing about this area is that the roads here are generally curvy enough that once you pass someone in one of the all-too-rare passing zones, they generally drop back as they're unsure about their vehicle's ability to handle curves.

But for that small distance where the road is straight and level enough for a passing zone, yes, they're like Kyle Petty.

 

[toocrazy2yoo]

Same with the sport-bike mutts around here. They're all-ballz in a straight line, but when it's go-time in the twisties over the Blue Ridge, they develop weak stomach muscles. Ya look back, and all of a sudden the doods that were doggin ya going out straight-line 29South are gone when it's time to jump on 211 West..

Weenies...

Waddya gonna do..

 

[gedcruise]

Sliding a bit on four wheels at speed is exciting enough. Dragging pieces on a bike and then having the rear start to walk is another matter. Also, some bikes have low enough frame rigidity to strongly discourage really hard leans.

 

[cousincletus]

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brian,
One of the best ways to get someone to speed up is to pass them. You'll often note that they are accelerating as you pass them. They will then tailgate or pace you for a bit, forcing you to drive at real gut-check speeds to lose them.
I spend about eighteen miles of my twenty-five mile each way commute on rural two lane. I generally don't pass unless the car I'm passing won't even maintain 55 mph. It is amazing how the 55 mph driver is suddenly transformed into Kyle Petty, drafting you, after you pass them. I don't brake check. I like all of my cars too much.

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When they do that, I just let em ride my tail. Don't risk a speeding ticket or accident just because someone wants to speed up when you pass.

 

[gedcruise]

Cousin,
I have found that at my current rather grey age, the po-po aren't really worried about me. I haven't gotten a speeding ticket in twenty years, and have only been stopped once. Grey hair and a normal car buy you a great deal of indifference.

 

[Geoff]

Well the new toll road just built here in Austin on the north side (State Road 45) was a marvel of fast, efficient project management. I have never seen anything like it. The site was packed with activity each night after hours. The state managed projects, such as the extension of 290 to the airport (about 5 miles) are taking years.

The problem is that the government is not actually accountable in practical terms. Sure, we can vote out politicians, but the bureaucracy remains over administrations. In addition, tax money from fuel taxes ends up wherever the government wants to allocate it. Woops, we need more taxes for roads.

I am not worried about using money from another country to pay for infrastructure improvements that benefit us - and get it done on time. We borrow money to fund the government debt from foreign government, individuals, whoever wants it. We owe trillions. At least in the case of private tollways, there is accountability for outcomes.

 

[427Z06]

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At least in the case of private tollways, there is accountability for outcomes.

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Unfortunately, over the long run, that's usually not the case. Texas is relatively new to privately owned Toll roads so it's still easy to scam the public.

As far as 45 going up quickly, or any of the other parts, sure I'll grant you that. But there was an HUGE incentive to do so...namely the faster it went up, the quicker they could start charging people. If you gave politicians a huge bonus for getting roads built quickly and keeping them well maintained, I bet you'd see the same result.

Further, with 45, they actually took a perfectly good road that just needed to be expanded, and gave it away, along with a whole host of other land rights. Now you have no choice if you have to commute through that region.

And look what happened during this last Texas style winter storm. They had ZERO capability to maintain the Toll roads so they just shut them down.

 

[Throckmorton]

The foreign owned consortium behind the privatization of the trans-Texas corridor just bought up a whole bunch of newspapers positioned critical of the formation of the Trans Texas corridor:

Toll Road Giant Buys Newspapers to Silence Critics
Critics charge that the Macquarie purchase of American Consolidated Media is designed to silence critics of a Texas toll road project.

Australian toll road giant Macquarie agreed Wednesday to purchase forty local newspapers, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, for $80 million. Macquarie Bank is Australia's largest capital raising firm and has invested billions in purchasing roads in the US, Canada and UK. Most recently the company joined with Cintra Concesiones of Spain in a controversial 75-year lease of the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road.

Sal Costello, the leading opponent of toll road projects as head of the Texas Toll Party, says the move is directly related to a 4000-mile toll road project known as the Trans-Texas Corridor. It will cost between $145 and $183 billion to construct the road, expected to be up to 1200 feet wide, requiring the acquisition of 9000 square miles of land in the areas through which it will pass.

"The newspapers are the main communication tool for many of the rural Texan communities, with many citizens at risk of losing their homes and farms through eminent domain," Costello wrote.

Many of the small papers purchased, most have a circulation of 5000 or less, have been critical of the Trans-Texas Corridor. An article in the Bonham Journal for example, states, "The toll roads will be under control of foreign investors, which more than frustrates Texans."
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/15/1570.asp

Macquarie buys 40 Texas newspapers

The Australian investment company that leased the Indiana Toll Road in 2006 is used to being in the headlines. It happens often.

And even though the headlines Macquarie made this week in Texas were not directly related to any toll road, critics of one of the company’s recent business ventures are drawing a parallel.

Macquarie Media Group has purchased 40 community newspapers in Texas for $80 million, according to Editor and Publisher.

Critics worry that a control of media by companies that own toll roads may lead to a spin of information. Many of the small papers included in the purchase have been critical of the privatization of U.S. highways, according to the Bonham Journal, an affected newspaper that has been particularly critical of the Trans-Texas Corridor.

“The toll roads will be under control of foreign investors, which more than frustrates Texans,” the newspaper reported in November 2006.

Truckers know the Macquarie company name from the toll-road subsidiary called Macquarie Infrastructure Group – which is part of an expanding web of investment groups spun by the parent company, Macquarie Bank.

The company arm that invests in media purchased the newspapers Wednesday from American Consolidated Media and its principal investor, Halyard Capital, according to the reports.

American Consolidated Media’s group of 40 community newspapers was founded by Dallas Morning News President Jeremy L. Halbreich, who was quoted in Editor and Publisher as saying Macquarie was interested in “expanding the platform (it) already (has) in the local community papers segment.”

The papers are mainly small, community papers averaging 5,000 in circulation.

Critics of the purchase and of the buyer say the deal could be an attempt to control information about privatized toll roads in small Texas communities.

The Lone Star State has a number of controversial proposals making their own headlines.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has his sights on the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor consisting of a quarter-mile-wide swath of truck-only toll lanes, railway lines and multiple traffic lanes from the Mexican border to the Oklahoma state line.

Although Macquarie is not involved in that corridor proposal, its partner in the Indiana Toll Road lease is – Cintra Concessiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte S.A. of Spain.

Together, Cintra and Macquarie also operate the Chicago Skyway in Illinios and the 407 Express Toll Route in Ontario, Canada.

Macquarie Infrastructure Group operates the privately built South Bay Expressway in San Diego and the Dulles Greenway in Virginia near Washington, DC.

The acquisition of American newspapers was the first of its kind for Macquarie doing business in North America. Macquarie’s media subsidiaries own several media companies around the world, including BBC Broadcast in the United Kingdom.

Parent company Macquarie Bank reported the purchase of American Consolidated Media to its shareholders this week, according to Editor and Publisher. Macquarie Bank is publicly traded on the Australian Stock Exchange.

– By David Tanner, staff writer
[email protected]

http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2007/Jan07/012207/012607-01.htm

 

[Gary Allan]

The news just gets better every day. One good deal after another ......................for someone else.

We do have the finest government that money can buy.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Well that is simply unbelievable. Our Governor sells us out at every opportunity(look at the state parks!) and so does TxDot. Now we have this #@$%! going on and I bet no one from Austin will speak up. Anyone want to look into campaign contributions?