Additional hearings to determine the route of the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, a futuristic plan to improve passenger and freight travel in the Lone Star State, are scheduled for next week.

The plan, part of a transportation network proposed in 2002 by Gov. Rick Perry to remedy Texas’ transportation problems, would establish a new multilane toll road with additional rights-of-way for rail transportation and utilities. It could cost $184 billion in public and private funds and take as long as 50 years to construct.

The Texas Department of Transportation is hosting public meetings to get feedback from the communities that will be affected by the planned 800-mile-long superhighway.

The current study area encompasses 77 counties from the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo and Corpus Christi on the south, roughly paralleling Interstate 35 through the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to the Oklahoma border.

As proposed, the corridor plan is the largest, most expensive and far-reaching engineering project ever considered in the state. If completed in its entirety, the corridor project would include six separate passenger vehicle lanes, four commercial truck-only lanes, two high-speed passenger rail lines, two freight rail lines and two commuter rail lines.

Corridors would go around urban areas rather than through them.

Public opinion, political pressure and financial realities will forge the ideas, which means feedback is crucial, said Doug Booher, an environmental manager with TxDOT. The study area for the route along I-35 has already been nudged closer to cities as a result of comments from public meetings this year.

TxDOT says that after the current round of meetings ends Oct. 18, the agency will hold another round of discussions in the spring.

A decision will then be made if the state should proceed with the project, and if so, the precise route. The state must also receive federal approval. If that happens, then TxDOT would begin working on a piece at a time.

For more information on the proposed corridor, a list of next week’s public meetings or to file a comment, visit transtx.com, click on the “Trans-Texas Corridor System Elements” link at left, then scroll down to view the meeting schedule or call 1-877-872-6789.