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Follow TURFThe fact some of this borrowed money that ALL Texas taxpayers are obligated to pay back will be used to subsidize toll projects is an outrageous abuse of taxpayers and a DOUBLE TAX! If a toll project can't pay for itself through the toll users, then it shouldn't be built as a toll road. That's the legacy of Rick Perry and many in the Texas legislature -- DOUBLE TAX, punitive taxation to benefit private bond investors and global toll operators, not using the tax money we all pay to provide public roads for the benefit of ALL Texans. TURF and grassroots Texans worked hard to prevent the first round of Prop 12 going to prop-up toll projects....a DOUBLE TAX. Now a handful of conferees added a rider to the budget authorizing $3 billion more in Prop 12 road debt (already $31 BILLION in the hole for road debt and the LBB already warned we can't borrow any more money, we've maxed out the credit card), and they alone decided how this money would be distributed around the state.
The 183 toll project in Irving is a slush fund for private corporations seeking to become the state's toll collector and sole beneficiary of public funds for its private profits for the next HALF CENTURY! Perry and his cronies want to privatize that public road, using TAX MONEY. The article states they "hope to attract private investors" to add toll lanes to 183...only a fool would turn down "free" money to subsidize their profits. Won't be hard to "attract" charlatans given the sweetheart deal Texas lawmakers and Perry are oh so willing to hand out. It's an eminent domain abuse for private gain, and these public 'assets' aren't for Perry nor any politician to give away!
$3 billion borrowing spree approved by Texas Legislature will help pay for downtown Dallas bridges
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER
Funding for two new bridges over the Trinity River is on its way to Dallas, thanks mainly to a $3 billion borrowing spree approved by the 2011 Legislature.
The new bridges, which will replace aging spans on Interstates 35E and 30, are the remaining components of what was once hoped to be a trio of signature bridges over the Trinity designed by Santiago Calatrava, whose first Dallas effort — the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge — is under construction.
The Legislature agreed to issue the $3 billion in new bonds rather than see nearly all new highway construction stop in 2012, as state transportation officials warned would happen without new revenue.
The new debt was a substitute for new taxes, and lawmakers directed that $500 million of the bonds be spent on nine bridges throughout the state.
Most of the bridge money — about $320 million — will come to Dallas, where design work is under way for a new I-30 span known as the Margaret McDermott Bridge. A second bridge along with substantial new ramps and other connectors, would replace the existing I-35E bridge and could be under construction within a few years, officials said. A third, smaller Dallas bridge east of downtown near Deep Ellum, will also be replaced, thanks to the new money.
The I-30 and I-35E bridges could be built together, in stages, said Jahnae Stout, spokeswoman for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. Construction on the I-30 component could begin as soon as next summer.
The second component, which would include the I-35E bridge and a complex network of new ramps and connections, could begin in 2014 at the earliest. It awaits approval by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
But solving the funding puzzles makes everything else much easier to address, officials said.
“This is good news,” said Michael Morris, staff director of the Regional Transportation Council, which voted last week to funnel most of North Texas’ share of the $3 billion in bonds statewide to Dallas County.
North Texas will receive another $535 million from the remaining $2.5 billion in bond proceeds, too. Together with money set aside from other sources, including the North Texas Tollway Authority, these new funds will cover nearly all of the remaining costs for the bridges and make other local highway improvements.
In Irving, for instance, the money will mean $100 million for a toll project on State Highway 183, where state officials hope to attract private investors to add paid HOV lanes.
For Dallas County
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said he and other east-side representatives on the Regional Transportation Council scored an important victory last week when they convinced their counterparts from Tarrant and other western counties to send most of the new money to Dallas County and, to a smaller degree, Collin County.
Of the $855 million share of the bond money that will come to North Texas, all but $160 million will be spent on the east side of the region, with most of the money staying in the city of Dallas.
The wrestling over funding, however, likely will continue. Experts routinely predict that state and federal gas tax receipts — the traditional way roads are funded in Texas and elsewhere — cannot keep up with the costs of maintaining the aging interstate system and fighting congestion in America’s biggest cities.
That funding shortage has led lawmakers across the country to consider heavier reliance on private investors to help pay for big toll roads. Texas has led the way on that path, but paused two years ago when lawmakers allowed the state’s authority to enter private toll deals to expire.
Legislation awaits Gov. Rick Perry’s signature that restores authority to use private financing to deliver seven major highway projects throughout Texas. If he signs the bill as expected, private toll firms could compete for three new toll projects in North Texas.
The first to be shopped to potential investors is the massive reconstruction of Interstate 35E from Dallas to Denton. Like the other two — the Highway 183 project and the expansion of the North Tarrant Express — the new I-35E would be a mix of tolled lanes and rebuilt free lanes.
Dallas bridges
But by far, the most immediate impact of the funding decisions in recent weeks will be seen in downtown Dallas, across the star-crossed Trinity River.
City officials have long considered the three proposed signatures spans by Calatrava as a dazzling way to elevate Dallas’ skyline to world-class status.
With the new money from Texas Department of Transportation mixing with nearly $500 million expected to be paid by the North Texas Tollway Authority, the region can make good on the vision of three new bridges.
Calatrava’s involvement will be less than initially hoped, however. Only the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge will be fully designed by the Spanish architect.
He’s likely to play a role in designing part of the I-30 bridge, though probably only the spans that will carry the frontage roads.
The third bridge, over Interstate 35E, must still clear standard federal environmental hurdles and is expected to be designed without input from Calatrava, Morris said.
$855 million
$3 billion
Bond money approved by lawmakers in 2011, completing a bond program initially authorized by voters in 2007
$855 million
Total amount North Texas received for new construction from the $3 billion program
$500 million
Amount set aside for work on nine bridges statewide
$320 million
Amount of bridge money earmarked for Dallas, where three new spans will be funded, including two over the Trinity River