State approves bid for I-35 toll alternative (hmmm, I wonder...)

Austin American Statesman ^ | Dec. 17, 2004 | Ben Wear

[BobL]

Pardon me if I seem a bit suspicious here, but I'm supposed to believe that a private company is willing to spend $7.2 Billion of its own money to build a toll road that runs parallel to a freeway that is mostly underutilized. Something tells me that it would be a good idea to take a close look at whatever ends up getting signed.

The bottom line:

Tolls will have to be imposed on I-35 (currently a freeway), simply because Governor Perry's White Knight will require it. Otherwise no sane CEO would ever drop that kind of money.

If you want to know why the Republican Governor here is about to get creamed in the Primary, this is a prime example.

[BobL]

TTC Ping

[dwilli]

7 billion dollar contract could make every politician in Texas
a millionaire several times over.

What a vehicle for corruption this deal is.

[Brellium]

He can't, federal law prohibits tolls being placed on any Freeway which federal funds were spent building.

[Endeavor]

Sounds like a horse swindle to me.

[corbe]

The I35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin is in the Final stages of upgrade to 4 Lane, New Braunfels and San Marcos being the few remaining bottlenecks, But this portion is already close to capacity, IMHO. But, living in Texas most my Life I do smell a RAT here. Thats a lot of money, someones gonna pay and it will probably be the taxpayers of Texas if the past is any indication.

[McLynnan]

I'm suspicious too, but do you really think I-35 is underutilized? I drive the section between Austin and Dallas fairly regularly, and feel I'm taking my life in my hands with every white knuckled trip. It's congested and dangerous, and road rage seems to be on the increase.

[Willie Green]

Know anything about this?

[BobL]

That's why he's able to get away with this money grab. People don't think he's going to pull the plug on our "Free" freeways. He's about to.

You haven't seen the latest transportation bill that Congress is about to pass - it starts the process of tolling on the existing interstates.

Also, take a look at this article:
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20040925-172793.shtml

It talks about putting toll booths up on I-10 near El Paso. While the plan did get rejected, the article makes no mention of the feds preventing the tolling.

There are similar plans in work in Pennsylvania (I-80), and Virginia (I-81), both of which are currently freeways were paid off long ago. These plans are still active, as far as I know.

[red-dawg]

more info here.
http://www.corridorwatch.org/ttc/index.htm

[LPM1888]

First we pay to build the Interstate System then we pay for the privilege of driving on it? Are they even going to kiss us after their through?

[BobL]

"I'm suspicious too, but do you really think I-35 is underutilized? I drive the section between Austin and Dallas fairly regularly, and feel I'm taking my life in my hands with every white knuckled trip. It's congested and dangerous, and road rage seems to be on the increase."

Yes, there is heavy traffic on that stretch at times, but even so, is the traffic bad enough to drive people off of I-35 and have them pay 15 to 20 cents per mile - to pay off a $7 Billion investment. I can't see how. Maybe 20 or 30 years from now there could be some spillover traffic, but no company in its right mind would wait that long for its return on investment.

[BobL]

Familiar - thanks.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Cintra Consortium-(Cintra, Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, S.A.)

Cintra
Ferrovial-Agromán
Zachry Construction Corporation
Earth Tech, Inc.
PriceWaterhouseCooper
JP Morgan Securities
Bracewell & Patterson
Pate Engineers, Inc.
Aguirre & Fields LP
Rodriguez Transportation Group
OTHON, Inc.
Railroad Industries Incorporated
Amey
Mercator
Public Resources Advisory Group
Southwestern Capital Markets
National Corporate Network
HRM Consultants

[philetus]

It's going to get worse.
The politicians are taking more and more liberties in the way they act towards the "people".
They can get away with just about anything, these days, and they know it.
They and the "elite" think they are some kind of royalty with God given rights to take anything they want.

[Publius]

Yes. This is part of the Trans-Texas Corridors project. Go to the Texas DOT website and click on the appropriate links.

[BobL]

"The politicians are taking more and more liberties in the way they act towards the "people"."

Tell me about it. One byproduct of the toll road conversion is that we all get to drive around with little transponders in our car, so that our "friends" in Austin can keep an eye on us. As far as I know, the State of Texas has no privacy provisions for this data, so anyone with access, for any reason, can keep an eye on us, and figure out our patterns. Don't be surprised that in the near-future, the state starts selling this data to people like private employers.

[PAR35]

runs parallel to a freeway that is mostly underutilized.

Mostly underutilized? Have you driven between Dallas and Austin on I-35? Add a few hundred Mexican trucks a week thanks to NAFTA, and you'll have folks more than willing to pay the cost of a tank of gas to ride a tollway at 85 mph.

[BobL]

There certainly will be people willing to pay to get out of the traffic - but will there be enough people to do that, for this company to get anything close to a reasonable return on investment? I just can't see how - unless the state removes the freeway option for the same route ($7.2 Billion is LOT of money).

[PAR35]

($7.2 Billion is LOT of money).

I certainly wouldn't invest any of my money in such a project. Most of the tollways around urban areas such as Dallas, Houston and Atlanta seem to make more sense economically (although the Hardy toll road would make more sense if it actually went anywhere).