[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 22 (Tuesday, March 5, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1538-S1539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. Roberts):
  S. 1986. A bill to amend the Intermodal Surface Transportation 
Efficiency Act of 1991 to identify a route that passes through the 
States of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas as a high priority 
corridor on the National Highway System; to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that will enhance the future economic vitality of communities in Otero, 
Lincoln, Torrance, Guadalupe, and Quay Counties. By improving the 
transportation infrastructure, I believe this legislation will help 
attract good jobs to South, Central, and Eastern New Mexico.
  The bill we are introducing today designates U.S. Highway 54 from the 
border with Mexico at El Paso, TX, through New Mexico, and Oklahoma to 
Wichita, KS, as the Southwest Passage Initiative for the Regional and 
Interstate Transportation, or the Southwest Passage, corridor. Congress 
has already included Highway 54 as part of the National Highway System. 
The bill designates the Southwest Passage as a High Priority Corridor 
on the National Highway System.
  I am honored to have my good friend and colleague, Senator Roberts, 
as a cosponsor of the bill. Our goal with this designation is to 
promote the development of this 700-mile route into a full four-lane 
divided highway. About half of the SPIRIT corridor is in New Mexico and 
another 200 miles of it are in Kansas.
  I continue to believe strongly in the importance of highway 
infrastructure for economic development in my state. Even in this age 
of the new economy and high-speed digital communications, roads 
continue to link our communities together and to carry the commercial 
goods and products our citizens need. Safe and efficient highways are 
especially important to citizens in the rural parts of New Mexico.
  It is well known that regions with four-lane highways more readily 
attract out-of-state visitors and new jobs. Truck drivers and the 
traveling public prefer the safety of a four-lane divided highway.
  In New Mexico, US 54 is a fairly level route, bypassing New Mexico's 
major mountain ranges. The route also traverses some of New Mexico's 
most dramatic scenery, including one of the State's popular designated 
Scenic Byways. The Mesalands Scenic Byway is located in Guadalupe, San 
Miguel and Quay Counties, incorporating the beautiful tablelands known 
as El Llano Estacado. The SPIRIT corridor also passes through 
Alamogordo, home of the New Mexico Museum of Space History, and gateway 
to the stunning White Sands National Monument.
  The route of the Southwest Passage starts at Juarez, Chihuahua, 
Mexico, home of one the largest concentrations of manufacturing in the 
border region. As a result of increased trade under NAFTA, commercial 
border traffic is already increasing at the border crossings in El 
Paso, TX, and Santa Teresa, NM. In New Mexico, truck traffic from the 
border has risen to over 1000 per day and is expected to triple in the 
next twenty years. The SPIRIT corridor is perfectly situated to serve 
international trade and promote economic development along its entire 
route. The route provides direct connections to four major Interstate 
Highways: I-10, I-35, I-40, and I-70. SPIRIT is also the shortest route 
between Chicago and El Paso, shaving 137 miles off the major 
alternative.
  Though much of US 54 is currently only two lanes, traffic has been 
rising dramatically along the entire route since NAFTA was implemented. 
In New Mexico, total daily traffic levels are nearing 10,000 and are 
projected to rise to 30,000, with trucks making up 35 percent of the 
total. In Oklahoma, traffic levels are up to 6,500 per day, 40 percent 
of which are commercial trucks. These traffic statistics clearly 
reflect the SPIRIT corridor's attraction to commercial and passenger 
drivers.
  New Mexicans recognize the importance of efficient roads to economic 
development and safety. I have long supported my State's efforts to 
complete the four-lane upgrade of US 54. The State Highway and 
Transportation Department now rates the project a high priority for New 
Mexico. The four-lane upgrade of the first 56-mile segment from the 
Texas border to Alamogordo is underway and will be completed in the 
next year. Two more sections in New Mexico remain to be upgraded: 163 
miles from Tularosa, north through Carrizozo, Corona, and Vaughn to 
Santa Rosa and 50 miles from Tucumcari to the Texas border near Nara 
Vista in Quay County. The cost to four-lane these two segments is 
estimated at $329 million and $85 million, respectively. I am committed 
to working to help secure the funding required to complete New Mexico's 
four-lane upgrade as soon as possible. I am pleased the other States 
are also moving quickly to four-lane their portion of the route. I hope 
designating SPIRIT as a High Priority Corridor on the National Highway 
System will help spur the completion of this project.
  Once the SPIRIT corridor is designated, New Mexico will have four 
high-priority corridors on the National Highway System. The other three 
are the Ports-to-Plains corridor, the Camino Real Corridor, and the 
East West Transamerica Corridor. These four trade corridors, as well as 
our close proximity to the border, strongly underscore the vital role 
New Mexico plays in our Nation's international transportation network.
  The SPIRIT project has broad grassroots support. Most of the cities, 
counties, and chambers of commerce all the way from Wichita to El Paso 
have passed resolutions of support for the four-lane upgrade of US 54 
along the entire corridor.
  I do believe the four-lane upgrade of Highway 54 is vital to the 
continued economic development for all of the communities along the 
SPIRIT corridor in New Mexico.
  I again thank Senator Roberts for cosponsoring the bill, and I hope 
all Senators will join us in support of this important legislation.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1986

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SOUTHWEST PASSAGE INITIATIVE FOR REGIONAL AND 
                   INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION.

       Section 1105(c) of the Intermodal Surface Transportation 
     Efficiency Act of 1991 (105 Stat. 2032) is amended by adding 
     at the end the following:
       ``(45) The corridor extending from the point on the border 
     between the United States and Mexico in the State of Texas at 
     which United States Route 54 begins, along United States 
     Route 54 through the States of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, 
     and Kansas, and ending in Wichita, Kansas, to be known as the 
     `Southwest Passage Initiative for Regional and Interstate 
     Transportation Corridor' or `SPIRIT Corridor'.''.

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