page_title: Interstate 35
section_title: "NAFTA Superhighway" controversy
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 35 / History / "NAFTA Superhighway" controversy
caption_attribution_description: Map of Interstate 35 and Interstate 29
context_page_description: Interstate 35 is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north-south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border to Duluth, Minnesota, at Minnesota State Highway 61 and 26th Avenue East. The highway splits into I-35E and I-35W in two separate places, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Texas and at the Minnesota twin cities of Minneapolis–Saint Paul.
  At 1,568 mi, Interstate 35 is the ninth-longest Interstate Highway following I-94, and it is the third-longest north-south Interstate Highway, following I-75 and I-95. Even though the route is generally considered to be a border to border highway, this highway does not directly connect to either international border. I-35's southern terminus is a traffic signal in Laredo, Texas, just short of the Mexican border. Travelers going south can take one of two toll bridges across the Rio Grande and the border, either straight ahead into the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge, or via I-35 Business through downtown Laredo into the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge.
context_section_description: The proposed Trans-Texas Corridor toll-road project included one proposal (TTC-35) to primarily parallel I-35 from the Mexican border up to the Oklahoma border. There are major disagreements as to what impact this parallel route would have on I-35 in terms of traffic, maintenance, and commerce.
  The Trans-Texas Corridor was first proposed by Texas Governor Rick Perry in 2002. It consisted of a 1,200 foot (366 m) wide highway that also carried utilities such as electricity, petroleum and water as well as railway track and fiber-optic cables. In July 2007, U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter successfully offered an amendment to House Resolution 3074, the FY2008 Transportation Appropriations Act, prohibiting the use of federal funds for Department of Transportation participation in the activities of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). Hunter stated that: "Unfortunately, very little is known about the NAFTA Super Highway. This amendment will provide Congress the opportunity to exercise oversight of the highway, which remains a subject of question and uncertainty, and ensure that our safety and security will not be compromised in order to promote the business interests of our neighbors." Fellow Republican Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul brought the issue to mainstream prominence during the December 2007 CNN-YouTube GOP debate, where he rejected the concept and also called it the NAFTA Superhighway after the North American Free Trade Agreement and, like Hunter, framed it within the ultimate goal of creating a North American Union.
  In 2011, the Texas Legislature formally repealed its authority for the establishment and operation
  of the Trans-Texas Corridor, with the passage of HB 1201.
caption: Interstate 29 and Interstate 35.
exif: {}