Category Archives: tollroad

Trend: 2 Texas Senators Continue Opposition to Toll Roads

Which road project? LBJ Freeway expansion

Which Senators? Both Senator Van Taylor and Senator Bob Hall reiterated their opposition to the use of toll roads. 

What do local transportation officials say? The transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments also wants pay-as-you go and not tolls to expand LBJ. But, the Council needs $1.4 Billion for the project.

Senator Bob Hall’s comment: if two-thirds of the project can be built without tolls, why not the…

Speaker Straus Applauds removal of Toll Lanes

What’s this about? The Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is working on plans to grow 281. Part of their plan was to add new toll lanes to 281.

Tolls are very controversial. Tolls don’t have favored nation status in Texas. Grass roots groups like Texas TURF were strongly opposed. 

Mr. Speaker commented:  “Today the Alamo Area MPO took a very positive step toward improving mobility in San Antonio. This vote shows that local and state officials are working together to address…

Regional Transportation Council Funding Texas High Speed Rail

“The Regional Transportation Council earlier this month agreed to pay $4.5 million through 2018 to keep up planning efforts on the portion of the proposed bullet train system that would connect Fort Worth, Arlington and Dallas.”

What’s the source of the funds? “The council decided to use $4.5 million in surplus revenue collected from the region’s toll roads.”

What will the toll money be used for? “preliminary engineering, and will help the high-speed rail commission gather the data it…

TAMU Transportation Institute: Good Economy = Bad Traffic. 7 Strategies to Combat Congestion.

Better economy breeds worse traffic. Rest assured, the Texas A&M Traffic Institute is tracking what states are doing about gridlock. See their list. More importantly, here are the strategies they suggest to counter congestion:

  • greater transportaiton investment
  • Fix existing roads & bridges
  • Increase public trnsportation accessibility
  • Fixing congestion is a LOCAL decision that needs LOCAL solutions
  • Add capacity to critical corridors
  • Give travelers options of multiple routes
  • Support…

Regulatory Trend: 6 Ways to Prioritize Transportation Projects

Virginia Department of Transportation has implemented a new priority system for fudning transportation projects.  VA will score a project on the following criteria:

  • accessibility
  • congestion management
  • economic development
  • environmental quality
  • safety and
  • land use.

Economic Development is a trend we’re seeing in Texas. It was included in the rational for the Tomball Tollway. Tollways have vocal opposition, but econo…

6 Points from The Transportation Funding Deal

  • Projected $3 Billion boost in funding, possibly more
  • Funding will shift to  construction and maintenance of toll-free roads
  • Will require voter approval in November 2016
  • Funding will rely on general sales tax and the motor vehicle sales tax
  • The funding mechanism: “starting in 2018, TxDOT would get up to an additional $2.5 billion a year in general sales tax revenue once that pot reached $28 billion a year”
  • “Starting in 2020, the highway…