By GORDON DICKSON
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
AUSTIN -- Hundreds of Texans from various backgrounds – county commissioners, environmentalists and farmers – packed a legislative meeting Thursday and demanded that state laws allowing the Trans-Texas Corridor toll road be repealed.
"We want a do-over!" one south Texas woman testified.
The Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security plans to take nearly 10 hours of testimony Thursday.
The anti-toll road sentiment is even shared by legislators who supported changes in state law in 2003 that allowed the Texas Department of Transportation to use tolls and private financing to build roads.
"There are many legislators that would like a do-over as well,"said state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, the committee chairman.
More than 100 people have signed up to testify.
The toll backlash could have ramifications for several Tarrant County freeways, including Interstate 35W, Loop 820 and Airport Freeway, which Metroplex leaders are planning to expand with toll lanes.
Several speakers Thursday morning were critical of Texas Transportation Commissioner Ric Williamson of Weatherford, a close friend of Gov. Rick Perry. The two men are the state's chief advocates of using toll financing to make up for a lack of gas tax dollars.
"Chairman Williamson scared this Legislature and the public with an $84 billion shortfall. We now know that's not the case. There's been some cooking of the books to come up with a shortfall," said Dallas County Commissioner Ken Mayfield. "This does not ensure the safest, most reliable toll road will be built, in the most efficient manner."
Dennis Enright, who testified as an expert in public-private partnerships, said that while private financing is commonly used in third-world countries to build roads, "My recommendation is to find out what can be done by the public sector, and if it can be done, it's a vital public asset."
Gina Parker Ford, guest column: ‘Who’s in charge?’ Showdown on Trans-Texas (Waco Tribune-Herald)
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Two big events are happening this week relative to the Trans-Texas Corridor.
At 1:30 p.m. Friday, Texans from all walks of life will be descending on the Capitol to tell our lawmakers the TTC is bad for Texas.
Some will come on horses, some on tractors and many more on motorcycles — all united together against wasteful spending, questionable tactics by Gov. Rick Perry and a virtual double-tax on our roadways through toll fares levied by a private business.
As David Stall, founder of Corridor Watch, notes, “It’s about revenue, not transportation.”
At the same time, thousands of acres of land will be condemned, taking valuable property away from Texas land owners.
There is hope, however, in the policial process.
One of the best political appointments this year occurred in the Texas Senate when Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst chose Dallas Sen. John Carona to lead on transportation issues.
Carona has never been one to shy away from his convictions. Dewhurst realized that the rising tide of concern in the public regarding toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor needed to be addressed.
Carona and Dewhurst are working to open the doors of state government and give the public a greater voice in how their transportation dollars will be spent and allocated.
As chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation & Homeland Security, Carona will hold critical hearings today in Austin to review state policy regarding toll roads, the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor and public-private partnerships in the area of road and highway construction.
These are the first hearings in perhaps a decade that will review state transportation policy with a critical eye and allow the public to voice its concerns.
It also amounts to a showdown between Carona and Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission.
Williamson recently snubbed Carona as the senator attempted simply to get an appointment to discuss transportation issues.
State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said he did not understand why the Senate Transportation chairman could not get a meeting with an agency head whose job relies on Senate confirmation.
“Who’s in charge here?” Patrick asked.
Today’s hearings may be the public’s best chance to have its concerns heard about the Trans-Texas Corridor.
Transportation policy in the Texas House is controlled by State Rep. Mike Krusee of Round Rock, an ardent supporter of toll roads.
Krusee appears to be no less strident in his zeal for the double taxation of our roadways, even though voters sent him a clear message opposing his policies last November when he won re-election with just 50.4 percent of the vote, defeating an underfunded Democrat by just 2,300 votes.
Four years earlier Krusee won re-election in the same district with more than 64 percent. That was before he began promoting toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor.
Supporting Sen. Carona in today’s hearings is crucial if our state Legislature is to understand fully the importance of reforming state transportation policy to meet the needs of taxpayers rather than special interests.
Texans, they are your roads, your tax dollars, and your future.
Make sure the voice of the people is heard throughout the Capitol.
Fortunately, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and Sen. Carona are giving the people a voice in this process.
Fireworks ahead (Star-Telegram, 02/28/2007)
Things have been testy between Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson of Weatherford and state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security.
Their clashing transportation funding philosophies will be a hot topic in Austin when Carona's committee holds an 8:30 a.m. public hearing Thursday on toll roads, the Trans-Texas Corridor and public-private partnerships. The hearing in the Extension Auditorium at the Texas Capitol could go until 6 p.m. to allow as many speakers -- each gets three minutes -- as possible.
(Witness forms also are available on the committee Web site at www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/commit/c640/c640.htm or by phone at 512-463-0067. A live webcast of the hearing can be accessed via www.senate.state.tx.us.)
In January, Carona said Gov. Rick Perry should replace longtime friend Williamson as leader of the commission that oversees the Texas Department of Transportation. Carona, a critic of Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor plan, said Williamson's "abrasiveness" and unyielding commitment to toll roads "has worn out his welcome in many communities across the state," according to a Jan. 19 article in the Austin American-Statesman.
Carona favors raising the state's 20-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax to help pay road construction costs. He is critical of Williamson's support for agreements with private companies such as Spain-based Cintra to finance and build major toll roads. Carona contends that such agreements could result in motorists paying higher tolls than if government agencies were financing and operating the toll roads.
Williamson says his approach build badly needed roads sooner.
Although the Star-Telegram Editorial Board favors construction of toll roads for some projects, members also believe that a substantial increase in the state gas tax is necessary to boost transportation funding. That issue and others important to Texas' transportation future are likely to be aired at Thursday's hearing.
Toll backlash could delay projects here (02/28/2007)
An anti-toll road sentiment is sweeping through Austin, and Tarrant County officials worry that key projects such as the expansion of Interstate 35W, Northeast Loop 820 and Airport Freeway could be delayed for years.
"We're going to take the biggest hit if there's any kind of moratorium on toll roads," said North Richland Hills Mayor Oscar Trevino. "The 820 project has already been delayed for so many years. If there's a toll road backlash, it won't answer our congestion problems today, or for that matter the next five years."
A transportation hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Austin, and several dozen Metroplex officials plan to attend. Crowds of toll road opponents may attend, too, joined by legislators who feel that the Texas Department of Transportation has become too powerful and autonomous in pushing for toll roads.
Opposition to toll roads, especially the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor from North Texas to San Antonio, has been brewing for several years in parts of the state.
But Tarrant County officials generally have been more supportive of the Transportation Department's -- and by extension Gov. Rick Perry's -- plans to use private financing and toll collection as a way to offset gas taxes and build roads more quickly.
As a result, plans to expand I-35W, 820 and Airport Freeway have been pushed to the front burner, and the Transportation Department is seeking private bidders to build and manage new toll lanes on those roads.
But several bills could postpone those plans, including a provision that would roll back the department's ability to enter into development agreements with private companies, and another that would impose a two-year moratorium on new toll roads.
Already-approved projects such as Southwest Parkway in Fort Worth and the Texas 114/121 DFW Connector in Grapevine, both of which are scheduled to be under construction early next year, could be delayed, too.
Also, a state audit released last week was highly critical of Trans-Texas, saying that because of the transportation department's accounting weaknesses, the public won't be able to determine how much the project actually costs.
Legislators may be willing to accept a gas tax increase of roughly 8 cents a gallon as an alternative to toll financing, Vic Suhm, director of the Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition, told members during a recent meeting.
Suhm cited a recent report by Perry's business council that concluded that a gas tax increase could raise enough money to build the roads the Transportation Department wants.
Department officials have said that the report is flawed and that it would take a gas tax increase of about $1.40 a gallon to raise enough money, which is why alternative funding must be found.
The price of gasoline in Texas now includes a state tax of 20 cents a gallon and federal tax of 18.4 cents a gallon.
Suhm told Tarrant County leaders that the anti-toll road sentiment is very real and could have lasting impact on legislation passed this session. He suggested that they take gas tax proposals seriously and not necessarily fight them.
Many lawmakers regret voting in 2003 to give the Transportation Department more power, Suhm said.
"There is a sense of frustration among the legislators," Suhm said. "They are saying, 'We were sure hurried, and now we're hearing from our constituents who don't want toll roads, and we don't want our agricultural land taken,' and that sentiment is very much out there."
Maribel Chavez, the department's Fort Worth district engineer, urged Tarrant County leaders not to accept a gas-tax increase in lieu of private financing and tolls.
"It can't just be either the private investment or the gas tax," she said. "It has to be both of them."
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
http://www.wacotrib.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2007/03/01/03012007wacparker.html
Don't do it.
DON'T DO IT!
Hundreds
Texas, the new Third World Country. It is a Republic, right???
Texas needs to dump this turnpike crap. I might want to drive there someday, and I don't do toll roads. Period.
It's only hundreds who spoke out against it, so it is just a small minority who don't want the TTC </heavy, heavy sarcasm>
Way back in the dark ages, children, Texas had a toll road that ran between Dallas and Ft. Worth and was operated by the Texas Turnpike Authority. The Dallas-Ft. Worth Turnpike (as it was called) was supposed to be paid in full after 30 years.
30 years came and went and the TTA had no intention of abandoning its home for the previous 30 years. Until, that is, substantial pressure was brought to bear on the politicians by taxpayers who wanted to see the TTA forced to honor its promises.
Today, that road is I-30 between Dallas and Ft. Worth. The moral of the story is that toll roads, like taxes, are forever. The TTA ALMOST got by after 30 years. A 50 year contract on the TTC will virtually assure that NO ONE will know of or remember the agreements when the 50 years are up which means that it will be a foreign-owned toll road forever.