U.S. 183, I-35 projects waver after Abbott, Patrick trash tolls

The Austin American-Statesman ^ | November 20, 2017 | Ben Wear

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Several key Central Texas highway projects — including expansions of U.S. 183 in North Austin, U.S. 290 in Southwest Austin and Interstate 35 through the heart of the area — are once again in limbo after Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick last week staked out firm anti-toll positions.

“Right now there’s a billion dollars worth of projects on hold, between 183 and Oak Hill,” said Mike Heiligenstein, executive director of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority.

The I-35 project, estimated to cost $8 billion to add toll lanes and other improvements from Round Rock to Buda, was still several years from construction. But it too has fallen under a cloud after the Abbott and Patrick toll condemnations, a message from on high that persuaded Texas Department of Transportation officials to abruptly shut down work on toll lanes.

“In response to public comments received, we are developing a plan to scrub the (10-year construction plan) of any toll roads in the proposed revisions,” TxDOT spokesman Bob Kaufman said in an emailed statement.

And Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Bruce Bugg, an Abbott appointee who until very recently had been pushing for up to 17 urban toll lane projects in that 10-year plan, said the commission “fully understands and is committed to continue to use the funding from Proposition 1 and Proposition 7 for non-tolled projects.”

Those constitutional amendments, approved by Texas voters in 2014 and 2015, redirected to TxDOT revenue from existing fuel and sales taxes. The amendments included a provision, added at the insistence of anti-toll lawmakers, that the money could not be used on toll projects. And Abbott, when he ran for governor in 2014, told voters he would address traffic needs without raising taxes or levying more tolls.

[Eyes Unclouded]

Airships. Texas could use airship lanes.

[Artie]

I will say that when Texas identifies a highway need, they act on it instead of conducting studies or hand-wringing like some other states I’m familiar with. The difference is palpable at the state line.

[BobL]

I LOVE IT - the people of Texas HATE TOLLS, and our leadership is responding to them. I actually had an E-Mail exchange with Dan Patrick, earlier in his rise (when he was running for State Senate), so this didn’t surprise me a bit.

I wonder if Voochie will come here and say that the solution to people being angry at tolls is to install toll on every EXISTING highway, like he always seems to do on your threads.

[AndyJackson]

HATE TOLLS

You mean the crony capitalist practice of giving land rights to foreigner corporations to build highways and charge tolls - e.g. create our own equivalent of Rhine Barons?

[txhurl]

More like the practice of taking EXISTING, PAID-FOR HIGHWAYS, building new frontage roads and making you use THEM while charging tolls on the 40yo ‘new’ toll roads!

[ontap]

We just got rid of Joe Strause one of the aholes who got this crap going. Toll roads are liberals way of taxing you to build roads and then charging you to use them Greg Abbot will do all he can to end this monstrosity!!!

[norwaypinesavage]

"The I-35 project, estimated to cost $8 billion to add toll lanes and other improvements from Round Rock to Buda, was still several years from construction."

As a "Winter Texan", I drive 1,500 miles south in the fall, and 1,500 miles north in the spring. The worst section of the entire route is "Round Rock to Buda". On I-35, I've seen it bumper to bumper on Sunday afternoons, Saturday evenings, and every time I've been on it. If I need to traverse it during rush hour, I take the back roads all around Austin. The I-35 route certainly needs help - lots of help.

Texas, though, needs to follow the vote of its citizens about toll roads. Texas has many toll roads, and they are quite expensive - several times more per mile than other states. I do have an alternative toll road around Austin. It costs somewhere over ten bucks, and adds about a dozen miles to the trip. For me, the back roads are shorter, and free, and thus don't seem to take any more time.

[BobL]

“You mean the crony capitalist practice of giving land rights to foreigner corporations to build highways and charge tolls - e.g. create our own equivalent of Rhine Barons?”

That’s EXACTLY what it is, unless someone can explain to me how you can existing toll roads competing head to head, as the airlines do now (how ‘bout it Voochie).

(hint, the public would, RIGHTLY, never permit this...as the idea of tearing up the land needed to build 3 parallel highways serving the same markets is just insane)

There can NEVER be a “free market” regarding toll roads, due to the fact that land must be seized to build them. The government will ALWAYS be picking winners and losers, and if it continues to be done as it has in the past, the basis for these decisions will be TOTALLY SECRET.

About the closest the government could come was what they did for cable TV, when they granted 5 year concessions to use the cables that were strung up. After 5 years, if the public wasn’t happy, the government could move to a different provider. But no one talks about 5 years in the toll road world - they talk about 49 years, 75 years, and 99 years. There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON that a concession to maintain a highway and charge tolls has to be anywhere near that long to enable a return. 10 years is plenty, 5 years is probably sufficient. The Houston toll roads bring in over $1 BILLION per year. That amount of money goes really, really, far in setting up cameras and sensors, and the software to operate them - and that is just in 1 year. (thankfully the Houston toll roads are public, so there’s still some, small, level of accountability)