Conservative push away from toll roads

[Bob Of Burleson]

As Perry Exits, Texas GOP
Shifting Away From Toll Roads

by Aman Batheja
The Texas Tribune

The Texas Republican state convention drew national headlines last month with candidates and activists staking out hard-line positions on homosexuality and immigration.

Less noticed was a significant shift in the party’s stance on transportation, particularly the state’s reliance on toll roads. In the new platform, Republican delegates removed a provision backing “the legitimate construction of toll roads in Texas” and replaced it with language opposing some aspects of toll projects in Texas, particularly the use of public money to subsidize private entities.

The conservative pushback against toll roads comes as Gov. Rick Perry prepares to leave office after 14 years marked by a sustained push for toll roads and toll lanes. With about 25 toll roads in the state, according to the Texas Department of Transportation, the state has used the projects to stretch limited funds and expand its highway network. Most of the state’s toll roads had been opened or expanded since 2000, the year Perry became governor.

“There is an enormous amount of toll fatigue in Texas,” said Susan Fletcher, a Republican delegate from Collin County who supported the new platform language.

Terri Hall, founder of the anti-toll road group Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom, led the effort to change the platform position. To explain why delegates had adopted her proposals with little debate, she pointed to a 41-mile stretch of Highway 130 between Austin and Seguin. The privately run toll road opened in 2012 with lawmakers promoting it as a model for the future. Yet the road has not proved popular with drivers. Last month, Moody’s Investors Service reported that toll revenue had come in far below initial projections.

“The grassroots don’t want any of this,” Hall said. “This isn’t a good deal for the taxpayer. We’re not getting our congestion solved.”

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[BigTex]

We're going to get more toll roads whether we like it or not. See U.S. 75 (Central Expressway).