[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 6 (Friday, January 10, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E42-E43]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             IH-30 ACCIDENT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 10, 2014

  Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, my fellow colleagues, I want to bring to your 
attention a most unfortunate incident that has taken place in my home 
district across one of the most vital and important transportation 
corridors not only to Texas but to the Nation. Interstate Highway 30 
begins in Aledo, Texas, west of Fort Worth and ends in North Little 
Rock, Arkansas. While not the nation's longest highway, Interstate 30 
has some of the heaviest truck and trade traffic in the nation and is 
essential to national security. Because of our nation's growing 
population--especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex--
transportation systems, planned over fifty years ago, are being 
strained and are over capacity. Because of this, our transportation 
facilities cannot always accommodate the needs of our constituents. 
This affects not only transportation commerce and mobility but also 
hinders the first responders and law enforcement from arriving at the 
scene of the accident in a timely manner.
  Early this morning, on Friday January 10, 2014 a major multi-truck 
accident took place including as many as fifteen vehicles, including 
semi-trucks on a section of IH-30 that spans Lake Ray Hubbard. The 
accident has closed all eight lanes of the bridge, headed east and 
west. After seven hours, the facility remains closed and as there are 
no frontage roads across the Lake, commuters and drivers are facing 
multi-hour delays and the national supply chain is being adversely 
affected.
  Our thoughts and prayers go out to those that were injured in this 
unfortunate accident. And to all those hundreds of thousands who were 
inconvenienced.
  This is a prime example as to why Interstate 30, and our national 
transportation system, needs renewed attention at the local, state, and 
federal level. This is not the first time this has happened and this 
will certainly not be the last. In 2006, I was pleased to be of 
assistance in causing IH-30 to be designated a Congressional High 
Priority Corridor on the

[[Page E43]]

National Highway System so that this vital corridor would be eligible 
to receive the attention it needs.
  I now call on the U.S. Department of Transportation to work with the 
Texas Department of Transportation and Arkansas State Highway and 
Transportation Department to immediately address these issues of safety 
and mobility along Interstate 30. I call for an expedited review of IH-
30 from Dallas-Fort Worth to Texarkana all the way to North Little Rock 
that will involve not only the DOTs but city and county stakeholders, 
including the TEX-21 IH-30 Corridor Task Force. I call for 
recommendations to come forth within 90 days to provide long and short 
term solutions. When a facility like this is shut down, the economy is 
affected because as we all know, our transportation system is the 
backbone of the economy.
  It is of utmost importance that those of us from the Texas side work 
with those from the Arkansas side to implement the proper maintenance 
and expansion that is needed to handle the demands placed upon the 
facility by the population increase. We are calling for six lane 
divided with continuous frontage roads along the corridor so when an 
accident such as this one occurs we have the necessary infrastructure 
to keep people and goods moving.

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