SRC-BWC S.C.R. 6 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research Center S.C.R. 6 77R1259 RVH-DBy: Fraser Veteran Affairs & Military Installations 1/22/2001 As Filed DIGEST The III Armored Corps stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, is the largest military force in the free world and has fought in and supported many operations worldwide, including those in Grenada, Panama, Honduras, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq and has provided humanitarian support in Somalia and peace-keeping support in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Interstate 35 has served as Fort Hood's major deployment route and is included in the U.S. military's 61,000-mile network of highways that link military installations and facilities that are critically important for mobilizing and deploying military forces from U.S. bases to seaports, railheads, and airports. The U.S. military's Defense Planning Guide 1999-2003 mandates that the deployment of forces from Fort Hood to any crisis theater must be completed within 30 days. In order to meet these operational requirements, the III Armored Corps has identified State Highway 195 as the premier southern convoy route to the strategic ports of Corpus Christi and Beaumont. The area along the two-lane State Highway 195 has experienced considerable growth in population and an increase in traffic that has resulted in a degraded level of service that has compromised the safety of its military and civilian users. Future traffic projections indicate that the capacity of State Highway 195 will be exceeded within the next 5 to 10 years. In April 1999 the Texas Department of Transportation began Phase I, a six-mile segment of State Highway 195. The project as a whole expands State Highway 195 to a four-lane divided highway that extends from south of Killeen to Interstate 35 and will cost $100-million and take 10 years to complete . The Texas Transportation Commission in May 2000 provided the project with a Priority 2 status to prepare plans, specifications, and estimates. PURPOSE As proposed, S.C.R. 6 submits the following resolutions: Provides that the 77th Texas Legislature direct the Texas Transportation Commission to prioritize the construction of State Highway 195 in its entirety to ensure completion of its expansion by the spring of 2005 for use by the III Armored Corps as the southern convoy route to Texas' ports. Provides that the secretary of state forward an official copy of this resolution to the chair of the Texas Transportation Commission.