“Is that why Houston has something of a seemingly similar ring-road scheme of both toll and non-toll roads? If so, it’s horrible.”
Since I live in Houston, I’m quite familiar. The toll roads, of course, were sold to Harris Country residents with the promise to end tolling once paid off. Of course that was a lie.
At this point, they collect so much money (yet are still priced way below monopoly rates) that the county now sends their excess money to the city of Houston to ‘pay’ for their streets (meaning the city now gets to use their property tax money to serve their ‘friends’ elsewhere). They could have simply lowered the cost to drive on these roads...but the tolling they have brings in billions, why mess with it.
...and even given that, it could be much worse. They’ve spent the past decade massively widening Route 8 with toll money - due to huge congestion (on the West and South sides). If the road was privately owned, at least if I were making the decisions, I would have simply doubled the tolls - same result, reduced traffic jams. Fortunately there is still some level of accountability on this highway precisely because it is NOT privately owned.
Sounds not unlike the Mass Pike, which was supposed to have been made free decades ago, when the original bonds were sold off.
HCTRA has become the most powerful government entity in the Houston area. They operate like a slush fund.
The did increase tolls to reduce congestion but the alternative route was so bad people use the toll roads. To say they have a choice is at best an economy with the truth.
I’d like to see the deal made for Grand Parkway NW from I-10 to I-45. That must have been a sweet deal to have gotten built so fast.
Yup. The "tolls go away eventually" mantra is a huge lie. It used to be true. Then we got a "tollway authority". Once they happened it was obvious that it would never happen again.