A supercorridor is a proposed new type of transportation infrastructure in the United States. A supercorridor would use swaths of land up to 1,200 feet (370 m) wide to carry parallel links of freeways, rails, and utility lines. The freeway portions would be divided into two separate elements: truck lanes and lanes for passenger vehicles. Similarly, the rail lines in the corridor would be divided among freight, commuter, and high-speed rail. Services expected to be carried in the utility corridor include water, electricity, natural gas and petroleum, plus

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparency and translucency, transparent fiber made by Drawing (manufacturing), drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a Hair ...

lines and other telecommunications services. Supercorridors bypass traditional national borders, instead using

inland port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers pub ...

s known as "smartports". Border guards and customs officers would check the cargo at these inland ports.

Proposals

No such supercorridors exist. The US State of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor in 2001 and eventually killed the project in 2011 before any of the project had been constructed. The

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway syst ...

concluded that it was more economical to route the transportation and utility corridors separately. The State of Washington studied a supercorridor commonly called Interstate 605 in 2003, but took no action. The North American SuperCorridor Coalition advocates for the construction of several such corridors through the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Criticism

Critics of supercorridors complain that existing transportation infrastructure is not being invested in and maintained. Other critics are concerned about the environmental damage which might occur by creating a supercorridor.July 5, 2006 column by Jerome R. Corsi,
"NASCO Alters Super-Corridor Message"
/ref> Still others are concerned about issues of national and state sovereignty, and the possible increased danger of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, in the rapid transfer of individuals, goods and materials across borders. The study of Interstate 605 found that the corridor would be expensive and more than half of its length would not be economically feasible. Acquisition of large swaths of land for such corridors has created questions about

property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically ...

and the use of

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

References

External links

North American SuperCorridor Coalition
Proposed transportation infrastructure in the United States {{road-stub

Proposals

Criticism

References

Further reading

External links