What
CAN I DO ABOUT THE LOOP 9 PROJECT AND PLANS TO LEVEL MORE THAN 1,200 HOMES IN
SOUTH DALLAS COUNTY?
YOU CAN
WRITE/CALL/FAX/EMAIL
YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
THIS PACKAGE GIVES
YOU ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED!
INCLUDED IN THIS PACKAGE:
1.List of
City, County and State elected officials with contact information
2.Sample
letter format for local and state elected officials
3.Talking
points to supplement/customize your letter
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.Prepare
your letters as soon as possible.We
need action now!
2.Address
and send letters to all applicable elected officials (those that represent your
area/city in which you live and surrounding areas, all Austin
representatives and senators that serve on the Transportation Committees in
both houses).
3.Use the
sample letter format.
4.Customize
your letter witha)your name and contact information, b) your
position on Loop 9 in your own words, and c) the action you are requesting your
elected official to take.
5.Fax or
mail your letter to the offices of the elected officials.
6.If you
can hand-carry the letter to the district office or better yet, the Austin
Office, do so!This is the most valuable
contact you can make.
7.Make a
follow-up call to confirm receipt and take the opportunity to restate your
position and request for action to the staff person.When you call, always ask for the contact
person listed by name.Be sure and state
your name and the city in which you live, then give the reason for your call.
8.Email
your letters as a follow-up to faxing or hard copy mailing; don’t use email as
primary means of communication.Emails
can be deleted without reading.
9.Repeat
your letter writing and calls every week.
10.ALWAYS BE
POLITE, RESPECTFUL AND CALM.SIMPLY
STATE YOUR REASON FOR CALLING AND WHAT ACTION YOU ARE ASKING TO BE TAKEN.
THIS INFORMATION PACKAGE HAS BEEN
EMAILED TO ALL THOSE ON THE SOUTH CEDAR HILL HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION AND
LANCASTER AREA COALITION CONTACT LISTS.
IF YOU WISH TO RECEIVE THIS INFORMATION
ELECTRONICALLY,EMAIL YOUR NAME,
ADDRESS, TELEPHONE AND EMAIL ADDRESS TO:
FOR CEDAR HILL:Janie Haga:jhaga@mesh.net
FOR LANCASTER:Mannix Smith:okeith1972@yahoo.com
LIST OF CITY, COUNTY AND STATE ELECTED OFFICIALS TO CONTACT ABOUT LOOP 9
SAMPLE LETTER FORMAT – LOCAL, COUNTY
ELECTED OFFICIALS
YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
YOUR CITY, STATE,
ZIP
April 24, 2009
The Honorable [INSERT NAME OF ELECTED OFFICIAL]
[INSERT ADDRESS FOR ELECTED OFFICIAL]
[INSERT CITY, STATE, ZIP FOR ELECTED OFFICIAL]
Dear [USE TITLE OF OFFICE, LIKE “MAYOR”] [LAST NAME OF
ELECTED OFFICIAL:
I am writing to you to express my deep concern regarding
the Southeast Loop 9 Project in our area and to ask for your help. I am not
necessarily opposed to the idea of an outer loop connecting the major
north-south interstates in North Texas.I do, however take exception with the road, as it is being planned and
aggressively pursued by TXDOT.
From the information I have gathered, I believe you are on
record as in favor of the Loop 9 Project as it is currently proposed.I want to ask you to reconsider your
position.Our neighborhood leaders have
brought our concerns to many elected officials in Austin.These state representatives and senators have
advised us that local elected officials do have a say in where Loop 9 will be
positioned.This does not mean just
advocating one of the alternatives identified by TXDOT.Local leaders do have a voice and you can
make a difference in TXDOT’s plans.
Please consider the negative impacts that this road,
following either Alternative 1 or Alternative 2 as currently planned, will have
on my family, my neighbors, our community and the North Texas region.
My objections are based on the following facts:
1.The perception
on the part of local communities that Loop 9 will bring opportunities for
massive increases in property and sales tax revenue is false.The road is currently proposed as a
limited-access toll road that is not conducive to quality business development.A good local example is the southern Dallas
County leg of Loop 12.
2.Local
communities will be forced to invest millions in new infrastructure to
accommodate the feeder roads for the toll road.Cities will be required to modify roads to accommodate a privately
operated toll road without receiving benefit from tolls paid.
3.More than
1,200 families in just the southern portion of Dallas County will have their
property seized by eminent domain.These
families not only face the loss of their homes, but financial ruin since most
homes have decreased in value due to the worst economic downturn since the
great depression.
4.Neither
current proposed alignment being studied by TXDOT’s contractor, Cintra Zachry,
can be considered an outer loop as both routes run through what are now
well-established residential communities.
5.Many more
hundreds of homeowners will be personally and financially harmed because
properties located adjacent to construction zones and high-speed toll ways will
also decrease in value. Current route is over 40 years old and does not
constitute an “outer” loop when the recent and projected growth in the area is
all focused on cities far south of the currently identified alignments.
6.According to
TXDOT officials, no alternatives beyond the extremely narrow southern Dallas
County study area have ever been considered.No studies have been conducted to identify and evaluate lower-cost
alternatives such as the use of toll lanes on existing rights of way.
7.Beyond the
“ground zero” of the Loop 9 Project, our entire community will be facing a
complete destruction of the character of our community.Most residents in our area chose to purchase
their homes and property because they wished to live in a quiet, less suburban
setting.On this point, all local
residents will be harmed.With a toll
road intended to link interstate highways, we will be exposed to constant noise
and air pollution, as well as the crime, drugs and guns that have become commonplace
along other major transportation links such as I-35 and I-20.
8.TXDOT
officials have advised neighbors in private conversations that the current
alignments for Loop 9 are designed specifically to support the development of
the Inland Port in Lancaster, Texas.If
existing rights of way and other alternatives have not been considered in order
to support this for-profit, private development, then we are facing a situation
similar to that in Arlington, Texas where thousands of home owners were forced
to sell their property to make room for the Cowboy’s new stadium.
Based on these facts, I ask that you please consider taking
the necessary steps to support my family and our neighbors by:
1.Working with
your fellow elected officials to develop and send to TXDOT a formal
notification to that neither current proposed alignment is acceptable
2.Requesting
that TXDOT expand study efforts to:
a.Identify alternative alignments for
Southeast Loop 9 that reflect the current and forecasted population growth
areas of the greater North Texas metropolitan area – expanding the study area
at least 30 miles south and east of the currently proposed alignments
b.Identify and assess EXISTING RIGHTS OF
WAY in the expanded outer loop area to reduce construction costs and eliminate
the need for massive seizure of private property
I thank you for your kind consideration of my request.
Sincerely,
[SIGN YOUR NAME]
YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
SAMPLE LETTER FORMAT – STATE ELECTED
OFFICIALS
YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
YOUR CITY, STATE,
ZIP
April 24, 2009
The Honorable [INSERT NAME OF ELECTED OFFICIAL]
[INSERT ADDRESS FOR ELECTED OFFICIAL]
[INSERT CITY, STATE, ZIP FOR ELECTED OFFICIAL]
Dear [USE TITLE OF OFFICE, LIKE “REPRESENTATIVE”] [LAST
NAME OF ELECTED OFFICIAL:
I am writing to you to ask for your help in getting TXDOT
to consider other options to those currently proposed for construction of the
Southeast Loop 9 toll road in South Dallas County.I believe that alternatives exist that will
save Texas taxpayers billions of dollars and will prevent the loss of thousands
of homes in Dallas, Ellis and surrounding counties through eminent domain
seizure.
More than 1,200 homes will be destroyed to make room for
the proposed Southeast Loop 9 toll road that is now planned to plow through
dozens of neighborhoods in Cedar Hill, Glenn Heights and Lancaster as well as
other communities to the south and east of our area. Families stand to lose
their homes, their land, their financial security and their way of life.Many more thousands of families will be
negatively impacted because they will find themselves in properties just feet
from a 14-lane, 85-mile-per-hour roadway.
Although plans for a road in South Dallas County are not
new, many things have changed since it was first identified in the 1960s.I believe that TXDOT’s current plans do not
take into account the changes that have occurred in the southern area of the
metroplex over the proceeding 40+ years.I also suspect that the route’s location may have been heavily
influenced by private developers seeking to optimize infrastructure to support
the inland port in Lancaster.
The stated objectives of the Loop 9 Project is to create
an outer loop linking road connecting the major interstate highways running
north to south in North Texas.The edge
of Dallas County is no longer the southern boundary of the regional
metropolitan area.Recent and projected
population growth and development are all focused to the south of Dallas
County.If this project is allowed to
proceed, I believe that a road will be built that does not respond to the
population growth over the past four decades.It’s location far to the north of what is now the outer area of the
North Texas metropolitan area will lead to the requirement for yet another
“outer loop” road in less than 10 years.
Estimated costs for the current project are $2.4
Billion.However, Dallas County road
department officials have advised our community leaders that the actual cost
may be as much as four times that amount - $10 Billion!These costs are due in part to the massive
requirements for eminent domain seizure of existing high-end homes and
high-value property as well as significant construction costs due to the
current alignment’s location through hilly, rough terrain and a major wetlands
area.
Despite TXDOT’s announcement that the Trans-Texas Corridor
will not be pursued in its original form, efforts to make Loop 9 a reality are
continuing with additional support being proposed in the form of funding in
bills introduced in this session of the legislature.It is difficult to accept that our own tax
dollars are being used to assist a foreign-owned for-profit construction
company in completing plans to ruin our lives and destroy our neighborhoods.It is even more difficult to accept that the
same company with whom TXDOT has contracted to build the road is conducting the
study to determine whether or not it should be built!Something is very wrong with this situation!
I believe that other, lower-cost, less destructive
alternatives to establishing an outer loop do exist.The highest potential alternative is the use
of existing east-west rights of way to the south of the current identified
study area and alignments.The areas to
the south of the current alignment have experienced explosive population growth
in the past decade.Despite this growth,
existing highways have little or no congestion according the TXDOT and North
Texas Council of Government studies and projections.I believe these existing rights of way should
be carefully evaluated before billions of dollars are spent and thousands of
families forced from their homes.
According to TXDOT
Loop 9 Project Managers, no study of existing, east-west rights of way has ever
been conducted for the Southeast Loop 9 requirement.No effort has been made to assess options for
adding toll lanes to existing roads, as is now under contract to Cintra Zachry
for S.H. 183 and I-635 in North Texas.
I humbly ask that
you consider the alternatives that exist and take the necessary legislative
and/or administrative actions to required TXDOT to look at alternatives before
proceeding with the Southeast Loop 9 Project.I recommend that TXDOT be required to modify their current Southeast
Loop 9 Study to:
ØIdentify
existing rights of way south of those currently proposed that would better
serve the areas of explosive population growth in Ellis County and provide a
true outer loop linking road
ØAssess
existing rights of way for use with added toll lanes similar to the projects
recently awarded to Cintra Zachry for S.H. 183 and I-635 in the Dallas/Fort
Worth area
ØEstablish
a plan to meet the requirement for an outer east-west linkage with North Texas
interstate highways that avoids/minimizes the seizure of private property.
For the sake of my family and the many others that will be
negatively impacted by the Loop 9 Project as currently proposed, please
consider this request.
Thank you for your service to the State of Texas and to
the people of Texas.
Sincerely,
[SIGN YOUR NAME]
YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
SOUTHEAST LOOP 9 TALKING POINTS
1.Current study area for the Southeast
Loop 9 Project is in the same location first identified over 40 years ago by
Dallas County for a two-lane county road.
2.The road is now proposed as a 6-lane
elevated, limited access toll road with a 600- to 1,200-foot right of way for
development under an agreement with Cintra Zachry, a private, for-profit
company with foreign ownership.
3.The corresponding northern leg of the
North Texas “outer loop” has moved northward by over 40 miles in this same time
period in response to demographic changes, community growth and development.
4.The stated Southeast Loop 9 Project
goal is to create an east-west connector road with major interstate highways by
means of an outer loop – following a path at the outskirts of the greater North
Texas Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
5.Neither current proposed alignment
being studied by TXDOT’s contractor, Cintra Zachry, can be considered an outer
loop as both routes run through what are now well-established residential
communities.
6.Running a toll road through residential
communities poses serious health and safety concerns to neighborhoods and
families.
7.TXDOT is proceeding with current study
efforts at an accelerated pace with two proposed alignments that will require
eminent domain seizure of more than 1,200 homes in Midlothian, Cedar Hill, Glen
Heights and Lancaster.
8.Proceeding with development of the
current proposed alignments will be extremely costly due to land acquisition
costs, construction costs over rocky and hilly terrain, and will destroy the
homes and lives of thousands of families in Dallas and Ellis Counties.
9.A number of existing east-west public
rights of way are located south and east of the current study area that offer
low-cost alternatives to achieve the Southeast Loop 9 Project goals.
10.Regional traffic studies do not forecast
significant congestion for these existing roadways through 2030.
11.Toll lanes could be added within these
existing rights of way at comparatively low cost without displacing thousands
of Texas families and negatively impacting the lives of thousands more.
12.Without legislative intervention, TXDOT
intends to proceed with their current plans and will likely begin eminent domain
seizure of family homes early next year.
