State Cancels Trans Texas Corridor

The Trans Texas Corridor, a plan to build hundreds of miles of highways, rail lines and utilities along the interstate 35 and 69 corridors in Texas, has been canceled, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Amadeo Saenz, executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation, made the announcement Tuesday at the Transportation Forum in Austin, Texas, the paper reported.

Though the dozens of projects that were under part of the larger plan remain as individual projects, the TTC "is not the choice of Texans," Saenz said.

The plan, unveiled six years ago by Gov. Rick Perry (R), would have cost tens of billions of dollars, the Morning News said. The highly controversial TTC would have relied heavily on private toll roads.

The Morning News called the impact of the cancelation "symbolic."

Controversy arose in part due to the large amount of land the state attempted to condemn in order to build the corridor, the Morning News said. Private partnerships for the project also raised accusations that Texas roads would by owned by foreign entities.

Projects such as the Loop 9 in Dallas and Interstate 69 in southern Texas, formerly within the TTC plans, will continue to move forward, the Morning News reported.