This session, toll roads will get full attention (out of control state government)

The Austin American Statesman ^ | December 13, 2004 | Ben Wear

[BobL]

BEN WEAR: GETTING THERE This session, toll roads will get full attention

GETTING THERE

This session, toll roads will get full attention Everything you ought to know about toll roads Buses' controversial 200-foot trip An unlikely new face at Cap Metro Anti-toll founders plot a revolution

Ben Wear

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Monday, December 13, 2004

When I moved back to Austin about 16 months ago after living elsewhere since early 2001, everything I saw and was told indicated that Texas had a discussion about toll roads while I was gone and decided that turnpikes were the wave of the future.

Texas 45 North was under construction, and bulldozers were warming up for Texas 130 and the MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) extension. A route had been picked for Texas 45 Southeast, and a newfangled thing called a "regional mobility authority" was hard at work planning another toll road. Several months earlier, in the 2003 session, the Legislature had overwhelmingly passed a huge transportation bill that, in a variety of ways, prepared the ground for turnpikes.

As state Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said to me last year about toll roads: "That's state policy. And I think the public needs to accept that."

The toll road storms of 2004, here and in Dallas, Houston, El Paso and various other locales, indicate that a large chunk of the public hasn't accepted it. And part of the problem may be that this is a rare example of a sweeping and fundamental new policy, one that will affect people every day of their lives, that became law without public demand for it or even much awareness that it was happening.

Think back to the 2003 legislative session. What do you remember about it? Well, Ardmore, Okla., mostly. And the stories weren't about how Democratic House members, trying to foil GOP redistricting plans, got caught in Interstate 35 traffic on their way to Oklahoma and wished they'd been able to take a toll road instead. Oh, and there was that budget problem, too, about $10 billion worth, and school finance.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Round Rock, and Ogden, chairmen of the two committees overseeing transportation, were knee-deep in a 300-page transportation bill, House Bill 3588, that beefed up regional mobility authorities, made possible Gov. Rick Perry's 4,000-mile Trans-Texas Corridor toll roads, and gave the Department of Transportation all sorts of new powers. That bill passed the House on May 10, two days before the Democrats absconded. Something tells me the Democrats were more interested in their stealth travel plans, and the Republicans in congressional districts, than in the details of HB 3588.

The press, for its part, wasn't paying a whole lot of attention, either. The Austin American-Statesman's transportation reporter left for the Peace Corps as the bill was passing the House and was gone when it passed the Senate, was amended in conference, and became law. The state's other major newspapers don't have transportation reporters in Austin, and the Capitol bureaus were focused on redistricting and the budget.

So toll roads became state policy while almost no one was looking. Everyone's looking now, however, and HB 3588 is likely to undergo significant change in the coming session. Some lawmakers will try to defang it, while toll road supporters actually want more money for tolls and more flexibility. We'll be watching this time.

Getting There appears Mondays. For questions, tips or story ideas, contact Getting There at 445-3698 or bwear@statesman.com

[BobL]

As you see in this article, for some reason, here in Texas, our legislature gave the governor a free hand to basically begin the conversion of our freeway system into a toll road system. The reason he needs to do this is to finance the construction of the 4,000 mile Trans-Texas Corridor program. These Corridors consist of something like 10 lane highways, with parallel rights of ways for things like power lines and trains. This is such an insane idea that even the state Republican Party now opposes it (even though it was Republicans that passed it in the first place). For those interested, the plan can be found at: http://www.dot.state.tx.us/ttc/ttc_home.htm Note the first bullet on Page 16 of the plan (at http://www.dot.state.tx.us/ttc/ttc_report_full.pdf) which has the state essentially asking permission from Washington to begin tolling interstate highways.

So watch out in other states. I know that there's a huge push in Pennsylvania to put up toll booths on Interstate 80, and there's a huge push in Virginia to do the same on Interstate 81.

I have no doubt that other states are watching Texas, in shock at how easy it was push this 4,000 mile white elephant through behind our backs. Hopefully we'll soon take steps to correct the problem.

[Drango]

Why not? I mean those who use the service should pay for it. Conservatism 101.

[BobL]

"Why not? I mean those who use the service should pay for it. Conservatism 101."

Don't you mean Theft 101.

We did pay for it. That's what the Interstates are. We also pay to maintain them through gas taxes. The question is why do drivers on the Interstates have to pay to build this 4,000 mile White Elephant that no one has even asked for?

[Drango]

Good point...You shouldn't have to pay twice for a system...but in general toll roads are a good idea.

[Izzy Dunne]

in general toll roads are a good idea.

Only if you repeal the gasoline taxes now in effect.

[BobL]

"...but in general toll roads are a good idea."

I don't agree, but I do respect your opinion. I like the gas tax - or some kind of mileage tax (that doesn't end up creating a database for big brother), since people who drive on surface roads will also pay. What kills me with these toll roads is that they are collecting money where it's easiest to collect, rather than having everyone pay their share...and because most travel is not done on limited access highways (particularly when tolls are charged), the tolls have to be very high. In Texas we now pay 15 to 20 cents per mile on our toll roads, versus less than 5 cents per mile in most of the rest of the country.

[henderson field]

Why can't they just take back some of the money that was given to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and use that to build the roads?

[sam_paine]

A toll road is for a new road. Coming in and making every major route in Austin a toll road, after being paid for by local and state taxes and behind schedule by about 15 years means it's a freaking money grab. This article is right. They tried to shove it down our throat and figured they could get away with it. Where's my tar and that old feather comforter?!?!?!?!?

[TXnMA]

"4,000 mile 'white elephant'" is absolutely correct when describing the TTC! As an engineer with extensive experience, I have tried long and hard, and (with the possiblle exception of separating truck trafic from auto traffic) I can find no feature of the TTC concept that makes good sense.

I was somewhat neutral on Perry until I saw his "wet dream" called the "TTC". Now I will work long and hard to get rid of him -- ASAP!

[BobL]

Thanks very much, it got a bit lonely a few days ago when I was going toe to toe in this thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1299709/posts.

You'll find what I think are some rational arguments against this concept and tolling of limited access roads in general.

I do have a question for you and others. Have you seen a price tag on this White Elephant? I haven't - but based on its layout, something on the order of $100 Million per mile is what I would expect (the cheapest a standard old 4 lane freeway can be built for these days is about $25M per mile).

Now do the math and you see the total cost is around $400 Billion, over $15,000 for every man, woman, and child in this state. That's a lot of money they're going to coming after, so don't be surprised if they find a way to tax people walking on the sidewalk also.

Seriously, this could literally doom the state into third world status (if the state guarantees the bonds - which the will have to, as no private investor is that dumb).

This is Governor Rick Perry's legacy in Texas (unless we stop him).

[BobL]

At least there's a reason for punishing you guys. After all Austin is the only liberal city in Texas (maybe not you, but a lot of your neighbors).

But the governor's money grabbers came to Houston and tried to turn the ALREADY EXISTING State Highway 249 into a toll road. They finally backed down when a virtual lynch mob formed at one of their hearings. What was interesting about this grab was that he punishing the people of Tomball, which is one the most solidly Republican towns in Texas - his base. He does care, he's a man on a mission.

[BobL]

Sorry for the dead link, try this:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1299709/posts

[sam_paine]

I'm an almost former Travis County resident. Gettin out while the gettin is gut.

They're trying the same thing in Austin as w/ 249. They'er only playing the game against roads that are already built with gas tax AND city bonds that we're still paying. If it were just for new roads, ok, but this is just a way to sneak in new taxes....end of story.

[BobL]

Totally agree - this is a new, punishing statewide tax scheme that the governor is imposing on us.

With the anger that I see in Austin, I think this thing is about to blow open and land Mr. Perry in the ash heap of history.

I don't know what he was thinking - but a governor who has been reliably conservative on just about every other issue should be a shoe-in for reelection in Texas. Now it's debatable whether he can even survive a Primary. What was he thinking?

[TexasKamaAina]

Perry's done. There are too many people ready to vote against him in the primary because of this one issue.

[MissAmericanPie]

You think this is bad, wait until the Fed slips the FTAA treaty behind our backs on Jan. 25th 2004

[BobL]

...and here is another excellent article from the Austin American Statesman http://www.statesman.com/search/content/metro/12/12corridor.html (you may need to register).

This one gives the total cost at $183B, which is totally wrong - but what the heck, according to the article, all of the "experts" have discounted the plan as a pipe dream.

Well, it's not a pipe dream in Austin and other places, as toll booths are starting to materialize out of thin air.

Note that the article also makes it clear that this plan is a total white elephant. It doesn't stand a chance of getting private funding for a long, long, time.

[BobL]

"Perry's done. There are too many people ready to vote against him in the primary because of this one issue."

I hope you're right. I was being savaged a few days ago expressing my contempt for Mr. Perry - even being called a stealth Democrat. That was until I recommended that my attackers take a look at my hundreds of posts on unrelated topics - there is no liberalism to be found. So, I'm really happy to have you guys around agreeing with me on this one issue.

Knowing that I'm not the only Republican in Texas who can't stand our governor has really sure cheered me up tonight.

Thanks all.

[TXnMA]

I'm really happy to have you guys around agreeing with me on this one issue.

No doubt, you are already aware of CorridorWatch.

There have already been several TTC threads here on FR -- that is how I learned about Perry's fiasco in the first place.

Right now, I am working on a base engineering graphic that viewers can use in an attempt to lay out a four-axis access interchange for six auto lanes and four truck lanes. I doubt that anyone will have the guts to try to lay out an interchange where two of those TTC beasts cross...

(You do realize, of course, that even a simple overpass will be a quarter mile long... Talk about exorbitantly expensive!!!)

Hang in there -- there are lots of us with you -- and more "catching on" all the time...

[Rockingham]

Florida's legislature recently enacted a similar expansion of toll road agency powers that escaped general public notice and understanding.

There are many problems with toll roads:

(1) they are more expensive than free roads of similar design because tolling adds about 1/3 more to the cost of roads due to fixed and recurring toll collection expenses;

(2) toll roads are almost always built by independent entities with appointed governing boards that are little subject to control by the people;

(3) toll road agencies inevitably fall under the control of developers and real estate interests who place the toll roads less to alleviate traffic than to open up their land holdings for further development, which in turn generates higher traffic volumes in the long run and higher infrastructure costs that the public has to pay for;

(4) toll road agencies have so much cash and are so powerful that they subvert normal planning processes, being able to dictate what roads they will build, what roads other units of government must build to service their roads, and where new development will take place;

(5) toll road governing boards and their decisions are commonly rife with conflicts of interest, many of which are never detected or have various excuses by way of exceptions to general ethics provisions;

(6) toll road vendors and allied real estate interests generate a gusher of campaign cash for friendly politicians and tend to become a source of corruption;

(7) toll roads are often placed so as to compete with or make mass transit impossibly expensive; and

(8) even when toll road agencies set out to build the wrong road for the wrong reasons, they are incredibly hard to stop, having almost complete legal and political immunity from challenges to their authority.

I know these points from personal experience for I have wrestled the toll road beast. I helped block a bad toll road. It took years of costly effort, lobbying local and state governments, several lawsuits, wrecking a half dozen political careers, and making several new ones in order to win the fight. I recommend Robert Caro's biography, "The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York" for an account of how toll roads helped devastate New York.