The puff piece in the Dallas Morning News beats all. Rick Perry's loophole laden law that passed in 2005 (HB 2702) allows exceptions to tolling existing FREEways already. He has the audacity to expect us to believe he's suddenly seen the light as he talks tough on tolling existing freeways two weeks out from re-election after 5 years of locking horns with Texans over this issue (for his refusal to listen to taxpayers)? Please, Texas, don't be fooled. He's the precise reason for the taxpayer revolt against toll roads!
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Texas Gov. Rick Perry vows to stop NTTA from tolling stretch of State Highway 161 in Irving
03:40 PM CDT on Thursday, October 14, 2010
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News
Under a plan floated this week by the North Texas Tollway Authority, a three-mile stretch of free highway in Irving could soon be tolled if legislators agreed to make an exception to state law that bars tolls on existing free roads.
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The segment is State Highway 161 between Belt Line Road and State Highway 183. Under an agreement with NTTA, the Texas Department of Transportation has agreed to rebuild the four-lane road, expanding it to six lanes by 2019.
NTTA would like to see it rebuilt sooner, in part because traffic leaving the six-lane President George Bush Turnpike – which is SH 161 farther to the north – now backs up as it enters the narrower, untolled segment of SH 161. The tollway authority is offering to pay for the reconstruction itself – if the state will agree to allow it to toll that segment.
NTTA executive director Allen Clemson said the proposal, still in the discussion stage, could save TxDOT at least $75 million and remove a bottleneck for drivers.
A second segment, of less than two miles, on State Highway 360 near Interstate 20 could also be tolled if lawmakers embraced the approach, Clemson said, though it's not yet clear whether that would be necessary.
Clemson said he has discussed the item with TxDOT officials and leaders in Irving. But the ultimate say will come from state legislators, who would have to amend the law to permit the tolling of an existing free highway.
Clemson said if area partners embrace the idea, NTTA will lobby legislators in January to change the law.
However, Gov. Rick Perry made it clear in an interview today that he'll oppose any effort to carve an exception that would allow NTTA, or anyone else, to toll existing highways.
"They can't do that," the governor said. "They better find a way to get around me."
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October 14, 2010
By Gordon Dickson
Star Telegram -- Honkin' Mad blog
Existing freeways could be tolled
Tolls could someday be placed on portions of Texas 360 in south Arlington and Texas 161 in west Irving that are currently free.The Regional Transportation Council by its own rules is not allowed to put tolls on existing free lanes. In many cases state and federal law prohibits the conversion of free lanes to toll lanes as well.Tx161
But members of the RTC, the Metroplex's federally-recognized official planning body, are weighing whether to go to Austin and ask for permission from state officials to convert a couple miles of freeway into toll roads on Texas 360 south of Interstate 20, and Texas 161 from Texas 183 to the President George Bush Turnpike.
"Would the public fully understand or would we lose the support we have now, in ... converting free lanes into toll lanes?" said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas
Morris wanted to bring the issue up for debate, but cautioned that it may not be wise to ask legislators for permission to increase the use of toll roads in the region at a time when the state is dealing with straining issues such as an $18 billion budget shortfall, immigration and redistricting. One train of thought is to wait until the 2013 legislative session, instead of pushing the idea during the 2011 session that is scheduled to begin in January.
"As a staff person, I am very nervous," Morris said. "Maybe we can hold off on this, and maybe put it into another legislative session. It could be like the Trans Texas Corridor, where once the opposition started you couldn't have a conversation about it."
But Dallas Councilman Ron Natinsky said the idea merits further discussion.
"At some point, I think we need to test the idea with some legislators, and see if it’s going be an idea that will float," Natinsky said. "I think we need to do our homework on that."
On Texas 161, the North Texas Tollway Authority could remove the state of a $74 million commitment to rebuild a two- to three-mile section of the four-lane freeway and expand it to six lanes in exchange for the right to convert the road into a part of the Bush Turnpike, tollway authority executive director Allen Clemson told an RTC committee Thursday. That road is already bumpy -- a stark contrast from the smooth pavement on the adjacent turnpike -- and needs to be rebuilt by 2019, officials said.
On Texas 360, the need is further down the road, maybe 10 years or longer. But the tollway authority also is probing the possibility of converting a two- or three-mile portion of the nontoll road near Southeast Green Oaks Boulevard into a toll road. While that news may be unsettling for residents of south Arlington and Mansfield, the tollway authority is already responsible for planning a southern extension of Texas 360 into the Mansfield area, so the question is really just how far north should the tollway authority's jurisdiction be allowed to reach.
Read more: http://blogs.star-telegram.com/honkin_mad/2010/10/existing-freeways-could-be-tolled.html#ixzz12MOFiA3z