The Texas legislature will debate a bill that would make building a high-speed railway in the state more difficult, the Houston Public Media website reports.
If passed, “Bill 1402” would mean that a long-planned high-speed line between Houston and Dallas could not use public funds to alter existing roads.
The plan to build the 390km line, which is being undertaken by a company called Texas Central, has been on the table for the past 10 years. If it ever goes ahead, it will cost around $30bn and cut travel time between the state’s two biggest cities down to 90 minutes.
The bill was brought forward by Republican representative Cody Harris.
“Bill 1402 prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars in any form from the state to local level from being used to pay for the alteration of the roadway related to the construction of a high-speed rail project,” he said.
Trey Duhon, a county judge and outspoken opponent of the scheme, said: “Bill 1402 … will ensure that public funds throughout the state are safeguarded from being wasted on a washed up, overhyped, underfunded, bait-and-switch high-speed rail project.”
On the other side of the debate, Peter LeCody, the president of Texas Rail Advocates, said the bill “narrowly defines [the rule] to a particular mode of transportation … That doesn’t give us a level playing field with other forms of transportation. This bill would cripple that ability to advance any high-speed rail project.”
Another concern brought up by supporters of the bill was the line’s “planning blight” effect.
William Papadopoulos, an executive with real estate company Delta Tory, said the project had stalled his company’s plans for a development northwest of Houston.
“This imaginary line on published maps has prevented us from developing our 993-acre property, where we aim to create jobs within a first-class business park to onshore industry and to grow the regional and state tax base,” he said.
“We also seek to develop affordable housing. Unfortunately, potential homeowners and corporations consider the rail line to be a nuisance.”
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