2-year ban on toll roads sought

Fort Worth Star-Telegram ^ | March 7, 2007 | Gordon Dickson

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

FORT WORTH -- Interstate 35W, Loop 820 and Airport Freeway would not be expanded until 2015 at the earliest if a two-year ban on toll roads is approved by the state Legislature, area leaders say.

A bill calling for a two-year ban was filed Tuesday and has strong support in the Senate.

North Richland Hills Mayor Oscar Trevino says it’s time to hold the Metroplex’s lawmakers accountable for jumping on the anti-toll road bandwagon and endangering Metroplex road projects.

The bill was filed by state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and cosigned by 25 of 31 Senate members, including Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, John Carona, R-Dallas and Royce West, D-Dallas.

“Any senator or state representative who gets on the bandwagon should be told we don’t appreciate it. It goes against the region’s mobility plan. We’re gridlocked,” Trevino, chairman of the Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition, said Wednesday morning.

Noting that Shapiro walked out of a Senate committee meeting last week while Metroplex leaders were making a presentation in Austin, Trevino added: “If they don’t want to hear from the region, what are they doing down there?”

While anti-toll road sentiment has swirled statewide, particularly on the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, Metroplex leaders have sought toll financing for projects that aren’t scheduled to receive sufficient gas-tax funding.

Texas Department of Transportation officials have already mapped out how to spend their gas-tax money through 2015 and the Tarrant County projects aren’t fully funded.

But the agency is currently seeking private bidders to come forward with investment money, and in exchange collect tolls on express lanes on I-35W, Loop 820 and Airport Freeway for up to 50 years.

Privately run toll lanes also have been proposed for the Texas 114/121 DFW Connector project in Grapevine, scheduled to be under construction early next year.

But Nichols’ bill could halt much, if not all, of that work.

“We must closely evaluate private toll contracts before we sign away half a century of control of our transportation system. Many provisions in recent toll contracts are alarming,” Nichols said in a statement. “These roads were built with public money for public use. Converting existing roads to toll roads would break a promise to taxpayers. No one should have to worry that the roads they drive on today will be tolled tomorrow. Tolling provides a valuable tool for expansion but should be reserved to add new capacity.”

Ironically, Nichols was a champion of toll roads and privatization during his term as a member of the Texas Transportation Commission from 1997-2006, when he resigned to run for the state Senate.

Hillwood executive Russell Laughlin said Metroplex leaders should ask senators to at least exempt the region’s plans from a two-year ban.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

More articles on the bill, etc.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Trans-Texas Corridor PING!

[Ben Ficklin]

"There is going to be three types of roads built in Texas, 'toll roads, slow roads, and no roads.' So pick what kind you want."

[heywoodubuzzoff]

Funny how the gas tax money rolls in but can not be spent on improving roads unless it is spent improving roads to be made into toll roads.

[ken21]

granma strayhorn knew more about this than anyone several years ago.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[BaylorDad]

Thanks for the ping but NO COMMENT!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[wolfcreek]

Oh, you can bet the officials at the Mobility Auth. will do all they can to make life miserable for drivers if the moratorium is passed. They want their money, NOW!


The new toll roads in the Austin area are already seeing many complaints. Extra long traffic lights at crossing roads, pileups where toll roads meet the free roads and visa-versa, limited exits causing snarls because drivers have no alternatives routes in case of an accident. The fact is, they're throwing these roads together with little planning and poor craftsmanship. A 5 mile section of one toll roads had to be completely redone when the rebar floated to the surface. This idea of private partenerships doing a faster, better job, is a myth. All they're interested in is our money.

[Ben Ficklin]

Which Public-Private road are you talking about?

[wolfcreek]

Mostly 183A but, the redo is on 45. Not sure if 45 is P-P.

[wolfcreek]

We can throw SH130 into the mix of complaints.

[Ben Ficklin]

"granma strayhorn knew more about this than anyone several years ago."

Here's grannie's opinion from 2003

[Ben Ficklin]

I didn't realize those were PPP roads? Who was the builder? When you refer only to "they", I'm not sure if you are talking about the actual builder or the global overlords.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

"Y'all" are welcome. :-)

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

bump.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

None of those roads are PPPs. There will be a PPP section of SH 130 started sometime soon from US 183 to Seguin, TX.

[1rudeboy]

Funny how the gas tax money rolls in but can not be spent on improving roads unless it is spent improving roads to be made into toll roads.

Funnier that the thing conservatives dreamed of in the 1980's, privatizing non-essential governmental functions, is now itself a source of humor for ostensible conservatives.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

IIRC, "they" are, in this case, Texas (SH 130, SH 45N, Loop 1) and Austin's Regional Mobility Authority (US 183-A).

[Stat-boy]

"Funnier that the thing conservatives dreamed of in the 1980's, privatizing non-essential governmental functions, is now itself a source of humor for ostensible conservatives."

If private companies were buying land and building roads, great. More power to them, and I would hope they make as much money possible.

However, what we have here is private companies (a) buying the right to run a monopoly for 50 years[once a toll road is built, even a government entity cannot build new roads that would compete with the toll road] and (b) using the power of the government to acquire land.