Posted on 10/16/2006 6:45:49 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Do you remember voting on the Trans-Texas Corridor?
Me neither. But I think I might have. Sort of.
Toll road proponents have said over the past couple of years that Texans had voted to authorize what has turned out to be a very aggressive push for toll roads. Gov. Rick Perry said as much in the Oct. 6 gubernatorial election debate.
One of the moderators relayed a question from a McKinney woman asking why Texans haven't gotten to vote on the "Trans-Texas Corridor and related toll highways."
The corridor is Perry's 4,000-mile plan of tollways, railroads and utility lines.
The governor's response was deft.
"First and foremost, the people of Texas had the opportunity to vote on a substantial amount of that in a constitutional amendment," he began, going on to say that the Legislature had debated and passed toll laws in several sessions. The voters, he said, "sent a clear message of how we're going to build infrastructure."
What actually happened is that in a September 2003 election, 810,855 Texans said yes to ballot language that only the most wonkish among them could have known authorized wholesale borrowing for toll roads. The 45 words on the ballot, in fact, do not include the words "toll" or "turnpike."
Here's what Proposition 14 proposed:
"The constitutional amendment providing for authorization of the issuing of notes or the borrowing of money on a short-term basis by a state transportation agency for transportation-related projects, and the issuance of bonds and other public securities secured by the state highway fund."
I was told at the time that the purpose of this was to allow the agency to borrow here and there against future gas-tax revenue to address cash-flow problems. And that, in fact, is what the first part of the language refers to.
But then there's a comma, and some more words. Some technical but powerful words that amounted, apparently, to the electorate saying, "Whoo-eee, slap some toll roads on us, baby!"
Now, Texans did approve another constitutional amendment, this one in 2001, that created the Texas Mobility Fund, and it actually said the money could go to "state highways, turnpikes, toll roads, toll bridges, and other mobility projects." A total of 543,759 Texans said yes to that one.
In 2003, lawmakers dedicated some fees allowing that fund to borrow $4 billion or more.
And as the governor said, that same year the Legislature approved a huge bill allowing the creation of the Trans-Texas Corridor. That bill, passed in a session marked by Democrats fleeing to Ardmore, Okla., and a $10 billion budget gap, got little press coverage.
Did Texans vote on the Trans-Texas Corridor? Not in any real sense.
Did we vote on a "substantial amount" of the toll road revolution? Yes, technically, in a special September 2003 election with predictably poor turnout and all the focus on other amendments, we gave the Texas Department of Transportation carte blanche to borrow for roads and charge tolls.
Who knew? Almost no one.
How exactly do you propose stopping people from moving to Texas? Be specific (and no, the majority moving here are not illegals, only Florida receives more relocations from other states each year than does Texas.)
You can't stop the growth without strong land use controls, which last time I checked were being advocated by liberals (and some NIMBY's.) Not building roads because you don't want them to come when they are moving here anyway is ridiculous, all you end up with is even worse congestion, like in Northern Virginia and Los Angeles. "Don't build it and they won't come" has never worked. Austin learned that the hard way, and now are having to play catch up with road building.
Oooooh...is that a threat? You just tipped your hand...sounds to me like you are deeply involved in this thing. What's in this for you?
You have thrown a lot of malarky up on this thread. But the reality of the situation is found in reply # 51. You are upset because you will have to pay.
What is it that you do not understand?
The Turnpike debt is being paid for by people who do not use the thing. They are talking about toll booths on along established roads that have nothing to do with the problem.
Tolls are going to be established in places that are quite remote from the construction.
Do you really need a road map for what this toll BS is all about?
Or perhaps you have friends and family that make their living doing mindless unnecessary jobs who appreciate the incredible employment benefits (not to mention great pay) that accompany work at a state run unneeded institution/burocracy?
You obviously haven't seen a map of all the roads they plan on tolling. My current commute route will be 90% tolled within the next couple years.
So this is a "good deal" how again?
OTOH, only those that ride on the TTC will pay for it.
You have also tried to compare a TTC built and operated by Cintra to a toll road in Mass. You should be comparing TTC/Cintra to a Cintra toll road in Europe.
bump.
You're welcome.
Its a real good deal for me. I won't have to pay an increase in gas tax so your ride will be free. You see, I'll probably never use that road. Neither will people in the panhandle or El Paso.
I already told you twice I am not in any group and I, unlike you, am honest and do not pretend to be something I'm not. However, I live 30 miles north of the city limits past 1604 and commute every day. Therefore, I will be impacted by this in a very big way. Yes, I am upset because I will have to pay...the money for improvements on 281 was already funded, now they are trying to jerk us around because they diverted the money elsewhere. Again...what's in this for you? How big of a cut are you getting? You've already tipped your hand, now tell us the truth. Why can't you all just be honest? It would have gotten you a long way...now no one trusts the plan.
"Ben" admitted he's in a "group", I guarantee you he is on the payroll of someone. He's just making more enemies for his cause by pulling this crap.
Well, not exactly nothing from the opposition. Carole Strayhorn talks about double-decking I-35, but I don't know how feasible that is.
And what about maintenance on existing roads....hmmmmmm?
In other words, no net loss of "free" lanes. Am I missing something?
But you'll still pay the gas tax. And the registration tax. And the inspection fees. Ect...
And, for the last time you bleeding idiot, I would prefer a toll plan for just the reasons you state (if I don't drive on that road I don't pay for it) IF THEY WOULD REMOVE THE CURRENT LAYERED TAXING SCHEME WE ARE ALREADY USING.
You seem to WANT both. This makes you either a "player" in the game, or hopelessly stupid.
If you were to abolish the gas tax and rely solely on tolls, all the people that don't use the toll road would be getting a free ride.
As for maps, try this one in pdf flavor.
So, you want your rape and murder too... Figures. Gonzalo, is that you?
$3.4 million dollars in highway construction money has gone for a computer system in the State Comptroller’s office, according to Larson’s figures. Thirteen million has gone to the state department of Mental Health Mental Retardation.
One hundred thousand went to pave a parking lot at the San Antonio Chest Hospital.
Amazingly, $9.6 million in money that is supposed to fund highway construction has been diverted to the Texas Historical Commission and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
More than half of the total money diverted from road construction, $5.4 billion, went to fund the operations of the Department of Public Safety. One-hundred and fifteen million simply went into the state’s general fund.
Source: WOAI Radio
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