Dallas councilman Bill Blaydes, project chairman of the NAFTATrade Corridor Coalition, local elected and appointed officials andthe Panama Canal executives formalized a pact to strengthen aproposal to seat a hub for international trade and commerce inSouth Dallas. The agreement promotes use of an all-water traderoute from Asia to Dallas via the Panama Canal, a pass-through formore than 140 transportation routes, and Port of Houston. Theinland port plan, once viewed with skepticism, is now one of themost talked-about economic development markers in the region.

The first milestone was marked with the opening of a 360-acreUnion Pacific intermodal terminal. This summer, the San Diego-basedAllen Group announced plans for a mixed-use development on morethan 3,000 acres beside the terminal. Under the plan, shippingcontainers would be off-loaded in Houston's port, already aninternational leader in tonnage, and transported to South Dallasfor inspection, sorting and distribution throughout the US andCanada.

Today's signing is the second one in a week that shores up theinland port plan. Officials governing the port of Topolobampo inMexico also forged a similar agreement with the Dallas NAFTA TradeCorridor Coalition.