Projected corridor from Mexico would route hundreds of semis daily through one-stoplight Marfa, TX

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: In Quiet West Texas, Residents Fight an Anticipated Trade Corridor
By BARBARA NOVOVITCH
Published: March 18, 2007


(The New York Times)
By 2010, an estimated 550 trucks a day may pass through Presidio.

MARATHON, Tex., March 17 — The idea that in a few years hundreds of diesel-puffing semi trucks from Mexico could be tooling through two small towns in this area of West Texas every day has upset residents.

The towns are on the route of a projected trade corridor from Mexico called La Entrada al Pacifico. In the proposal’s present form, La Entrada would route semis through single-stoplight Marfa, population 2,400, and neighboring Alpine, population 7,000, which has three traffic signals on two one-way streets through town.

At a Texas Department of Transportation hearing here this week, dozens of residents spoke out against the plan, which state officials insisted was strictly preliminary.

“We own a precious natural resource that is becoming more and more valuable: peace and quiet,” said Don Dowdey, chairman of the Big Bend Regional Sierra Club. “Out here, scenery, tranquillity and a rural way of life have attracted people seeking relief from congested cities.”

The Entrada proposal, he said, “would ruin the heritage of the Big Bend area’s beautiful, wide-open spaces.”...

***

La Entrada al Pacifico was signed into law in 1997 by George W. Bush when he was governor. The oil cities of Midland and Odessa to the north, through the Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance, have budgeted over $34 million in state and federal transportation money to promote the route, saying the increase in freight traffic will boost local economies....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/us/18texas.html

[bananas]

1. How will that affect the Marfa lights?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfa_lights

[Liberal In Texas]

2. I've been to Marfa. A sleepy little dusty town.

The biggest claim to fame there is the "Mystery Lights" that have been seen since pioneer times and are quite dumbfounding. I've seen them. No explanation.

This idea of turning our country into some sort of super-WalMart is disturbing. The righties complain about the illegals while creating laws and business climates that bring more of them in, and destroying the middle class.



...edited to add a pix of the "Lights".

[DeepModem Mom]

3. It's something of an avant-garde art center now, too -- and the location for the movie "Giant." nt

[Liberal In Texas]

4. You are correct. "Giant" was shot there.

A lot of the actors fell in love with the place. James Dean really liked it.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Yes, a lot of people love it. Routing these trucks through this area would be awful. nt

[Liberal In Texas]

6. A few months ago, Laura Flanders of AAR fame spent a week or so there.

For some odd reason. She's a Brit ex-pat, so go figure. (Don't get me wrong, I'm married to a Brit ex-pat.)

She seemed to like it.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Interesting! It's a "hot" place to visit these days. nt

[silverojo]

8. Ah, yes, Bush strikes again

This "corridor" is the first step toward his New World Order: The "North American Union". Wonder why he has no respect for the Constitution? He wants to merge Canada, the USA, and Mexico into one large country with its own constitution. (Google "North American Union"...scary stuff.)