Supercorridor
Encyclopedia
A supercorridor is a proposed new type of transportation infrastructure in the United States.
A supercorridor uses swaths of land up to 1,200 feet (370 m) wide to carry parallel links of freeways, rails, and utility lines. The freeway portions are 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 lines and other telecommunications services.
Supercorridors bypass traditional national borders instead using inland port
s known as "smartports". Border guards and customs officers would check the cargo at these inland ports.
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A supercorridor uses swaths of land up to 1,200 feet (370 m) wide to carry parallel links of freeways, rails, and utility lines. The freeway portions are 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 lines and other telecommunications services.
Supercorridors bypass traditional national borders instead using inland port
Inland port
The term inland port is used in two different but related ways to mean either a port on an inland waterway or an inland site carrying out some functions of a seaport.- As a port on an inland waterway :...
s known as "smartports". Border guards and customs officers would check the cargo at these inland ports.
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. Still others are concerned about issues of national and state sovereignty in the rapid transfer individuals, goods and materials across borders. Acquisition of large swaths of land for such corridors has created an intense debate over property rights and the use of eminent domainEminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
.
See also
- Concesiones de Infraestructuras de TransporteCintraCintra, S.A. is one of the largest private developers of transport infrastructure in the world. Its assets are fundamentally toll roads and car parks, in which it has a total investment of €16billion...
- International Mid-Continent Trade CorridorInternational Mid-Continent Trade CorridorThe International Mid-Continent Trade Corridor is a supercorridor linking highways in Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The North American SuperCorridor Coalition promotes and lobbies for further development of the corridor...
- North American SuperCorridor CoalitionNorth American SuperCorridor Coalition150px|right|"NASCO project logo depicting the three associated countries' flag iconography as a singular element."The North America's Corridor Coalition is a non-profit organization that seeks to develop an international multi-modal transportation system along the International Mid-Continent Trade...
- Trans-Texas CorridorTrans-Texas CorridorThe Trans-Texas Corridor was a transportation network that was discontinued in the planning and early construction stages in the U.S. State of Texas. The network, as originally envisioned, would have been composed of a network of supercorridors up to wide to carry parallel links of tollways,...
Further reading
- Craig Howie US divided by superhighway plan The ScotsmanThe ScotsmanThe Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
June 16, 2006