Is the Trans-Texas Corridor dead?

According to the Associated Press, among others, state officials are scrapping the Trans-Texas Corridor, a transportation component of the Security and Prosperity Partnership.

Since 2002 Texas Governor Rick Perry had promoted the corridor, which was envisioned as a huge set of highways, rail and utility lines crisscrossing the state but had been under fire almost since its inception. Rural landowners in particular were opposed to giving up their property for the project. Scaled-down plans are now in the works, reducing corridor width from a proposed 1,200 feet to 600 feet.

A wait and see attitude might be the wisest. After all, the Dallas Morning News reports that Perry "suggested that the Texas Department of Transportation's decision to pull the plug on one of his biggest initiatives – the Trans Texas Corridor – was mostly a name change, and that public-private partnerships on toll roads would continue."