Union praises those who spoke out against key link in "NAFTA Superhighway"

The Teamsters Union hailed the Texas Department of Transportation's decision to upgrade US Highway 59 instead of building a new transportation corridor through the countryside.

TxDOT announced the new plan to use existing alignments on Wednesday at a meeting in Lufkin, Texas. Only new lanes to the highway would be tolled, according to the plan.

"The decision to scale back the Trans-Texas Corridor is a victory for the local citizens and union truck drivers who spoke out against it," said Tyson Johnson, director of the Teamsters National Freight Division and an International Vice President. "The last thing we need in Texas is a NAFTA superhighway that siphons more jobs south of the border."

The Trans-Texas Corridor is a proposed super-tollway that would encompass rail and utility lines. Original plans called for a network that would be four football fields wide and 4,000 miles long.

Texas Teamsters made their voices heard against the plan during public hearings throughout Texas earlier this year.

"We have long fought to make sure that US infrastructure remains in public hands and that it benefits US citizens," said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. "This decision is right for working families in Texas."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.