By Swinford H.C.R. No. 234 77R11374 RVH-D HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, Transportation legislation enacted by the United 1-2 States Congress has identified 43 highway corridors as being 1-3 nationally significant for moving people and commerce; designated 1-4 as "high priority corridors" in the National Highway System, they 1-5 include five that are located wholly or in part in Texas and are 1-6 eligible for priority construction and increased funding for their 1-7 Texas segments; and 1-8 WHEREAS, High Priority Corridor 38, officially designated the 1-9 Ports-to-Plains Corridor, will connect Denver, Colorado, through 1-10 West Texas and the Panhandle, to the Texas-Mexico border and 1-11 stretch some 800 miles across Texas to cover approximately 110 1-12 counties with a combined population of five million; and 1-13 WHEREAS, The Ports-to-Plains Corridor in Texas extends from 1-14 Interstate Highway 35 at Laredo to U.S. Highway 83; from U.S. 1-15 Highway 83 to Carrizo Springs; from U.S. Highway 277 at Carrizo 1-16 Springs to San Angelo; from U.S. Highway 87 at San Angelo to 1-17 Sterling City and to Lamesa; the corridor also extends from U.S. 1-18 Highway 87 at Sterling City to State Highway 158 at Midland and 1-19 proceeds from Interstate Highway 20 at Midland to State Highway 349 1-20 at Lamesa; the corridor continues from U.S. Highway 87 at Lamesa to 1-21 Lubbock; Interstate Highway 27 at Lubbock to Amarillo; and U.S. 1-22 Highway 287 at Amarillo to Oklahoma; and 1-23 WHEREAS, Approximately 80 percent of overland trade traffic 1-24 between the United States and Mexico crosses Texas border ports of 2-1 entry, and 40 percent of this traffic travels to destinations 2-2 outside the state; the Ports-to-Plains Corridor will serve as a 2-3 direct connection with the Texas-Mexico border and will provide a 2-4 much-needed route for handling the increased international trade 2-5 traffic created by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); 2-6 and 2-7 WHEREAS, The Federal Highway Administration has found that 2-8 arterial roads leading to and from border crossing sites are under 2-9 stress and will be hard-pressed to handle significantly greater 2-10 amounts of cross-border traffic; and 2-11 WHEREAS, NAFTA has increased the United States' exports to 2-12 Mexico by 70 percent, while Mexico's exports to the United States 2-13 are expected to grow an additional 120 percent; and 2-14 WHEREAS, In addition to relieving trade traffic created by 2-15 NAFTA, the Ports-to-Plains Corridor will also provide alternatives 2-16 to congested corridors that run through metropolitan areas already 2-17 facing air quality problems and will help to develop other routes 2-18 that will coincide with other major economic development 2-19 initiatives; and 2-20 WHEREAS, Other benefits include balanced growth for all of 2-21 Texas, economic growth in rural Texas, corridor service to all 2-22 major population centers in West Texas, security, intermodal 2-23 connectivity, system connectivity, commercial vehicle 2-24 compatibility, road safety, and increased tourism; and 2-25 WHEREAS, The Texas Department of Transportation has 2-26 identified the Ports-to-Plains Corridor as a necessary and 2-27 important project and has allocated $134 million toward the 3-1 development of a four-lane divided highway that is part of the 3-2 Texas Trunk System; likewise, private organizations along with 3-3 local governments have voiced their support of the Ports-to-Plains 3-4 Corridor with over $450,000 in financial support for the corridor; 3-5 now, therefore, be it 3-6 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 3-7 hereby urge the Congress of the United States to recognize the 3-8 importance of the development of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor as a 3-9 trade route and to fund the completion of a corridor management 3-10 plan so that the development of the corridor can begin in a timely 3-11 manner; and, be it further 3-12 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 3-13 copies of this resolution to the secretary of the United States 3-14 Department of Transportation, to the president of the United 3-15 States, to the speaker of the house of representatives and the 3-16 president of the senate of the United States Congress, and to all 3-17 the members of the Texas delegation to the congress with the 3-18 request that this resolution be officially entered in the 3-19 Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United 3-20 States of America.