MY35 Workshops Wind Down as Opportunities for Public Comment Continue for a Limited Time
Written by admin, Oct 1, 2010, 0 Comments
Courtesy Raul Leal,
Throughout the month of September, the four I-35 Corridor Segment Committees behind the citizen-driven MY 35 effort sought input from members of their community at a series of 20 public involvement workshops. Although the workshops have concluded, the opportunity to register opinions on each segment’s proposal online continues through Wednesday, October 6.
MY 35 calls for a citizens’ perspective on I-35 improvements including identifying corridor needs, conducting public outreach efforts and creating regional transportation blueprints. Each of the four I-35 segment committees have met regularly over the past ten months to turn their locally-generated ideas for I-35 improvements into a draft plan for the future of the well-traveled corridor. Sharing those draft plans with the public is one of the final steps before all regional plans merge to become a single comprehensive, long-range mobility plan for the entire I-35 corridor.
Ultimately, the MY 35 effort will result in a plan that reflects the interests and concerns of businesses and citizens living and working along the corridor. Corridor segment committee members are hopeful that users of the I-35 corridor will take this opportunity to visit www.my35.org and review the workshop materials, including the proposals developed by the citizen-led committees. An interactive questionnaire will also be available for completion for each segment until the October 6 deadline, which serves as the mechanism for registering opinions on each committees ideas.
Once the segment and advisory committees finalize their work, the MY 35 plan will be given to the Texas Transportation Commission and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to guide future corridor development in 2011.
While citizens plan for the future of the corridor, TxDOT, local governments, the Texas Legislature, and the U.S. Congress have partnered to upgrade the existing I-35 footprint. Thanks to support from the private sector, a number of critical projects are underway in the Dallas/Fort Worth region to improve I-35 connections to I-820 and I-635. Additionally, in 2009 the Texas Transportation Commission committed approximately $1 billion in Proposition 12 bond funding, made possible by the Texas Legislature, and nearly $135 million in federal stimulus funding to expand I-35 to a minimum of six main lanes between San Antonio and the I-35 east-west split in Hillsboro.
More information about I-35 road conditions, the expansion effort and MY35 is available by visiting www.my35.org.
