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Follow TURFUS 281 ranks most “stressful” congested road in state of Texas
US 281 most "stressful" congested road in Texas
By Terri Hall, Examiner.com
September 7, 2011
Well, commuters in the US 281 corridor north of Loop 1604 in Bexar County have been saying this for nearly a decade, but now the Texas Transportation Institute’s 100 Most Congested Roads List for 2011 confirms it. US 281 in Bexar County tied a segment of I-35 in Ft. Worth for the top spot as the state's most congested road using its Commuter Stress Index (CSI), which measures the most congested direction of each peak period. That means it ranks even higher than the parking lot known as I-35 in Austin!
US 281 also moved up in its overall ranking on the 100 Most Congested Roads List to 21, up from 38. In Bexar County, 1604 dropped out of the Top 50 and was replaced by segments of I-35 as being in the top 50 most congested roads overall (considering Loop 1604 has stoplights on it and I-35 does not, that doesn't pass the smell test). Loop 1604 dropped to 74.
It’s the funding, stupid
To take a saying from a past presidential campaign, “It’s the economy, stupid,” the same could apply to US 281 -- it’s all about the funding. A little history is in order. In public hearings in 2001, commuters were promised an improvement plan (virtually the same one that’s being promoted today, except now every highway mainlane would be tolled instead of non-tolled) to add a lane each direction and build overpasses and frontage roads where needed. The cost to the county line was $100 million in 2003 & 2004 dollars. But in 2003, Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Legislature turned to toll roads, including tolling existing free lanes, to make-up for shortfalls. In July 2004, the local Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) fell in line and voted to turn US 281 into a toll road (then Bexar County Commissioner Lyle Larson being the only dissenting vote).
In 2007, former District Engineer David Casteel affirmed $102 million was available to fix US 281. At least $48 million in gas taxes to fix the first three miles were in the MPO’s plan up until 2008 when the funds disappeared and were spent elsewhere. According to MPO bylaws, US 281 should be the first project to get its funding restored. Once the toll authority (Alamo Regional Mobility Authority or ARMA) got a hold of the project, the cost has skyrocketed to $475 million (see MPO's TIP), despite highway construction costs plummeting.
In fact, the Chief Financial Officer of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), James Bass, announced in a simulcast last Thursday, that there is $200 million in underruns available to help fund highway projects. Underrun means highway bids are coming in LOWER than TxDOT’s projected cost estimates, leaving surpluses. This is in addition to $3 billion in Prop 12 bonds the legislature approved during the 81st legislative session. Of that $3 billion, San Antonio district will receive only $143 million. Oh, but the mantra remains the same from TxDOT and ARMA bureaucrats - “There’s no money to fix 281 without tolls. That $144 million is a ‘drop in the bucket’ compared to the $475 - $485 million needed” (the new estimated price is closer to $485-$505 million!).
Environmental hurdles or excuses?
The other excuse we hear is that US 281 won’t have environmental clearance in time to use the Prop 12 bonds (ARMA says December 2013, Prop 12 bonds need to be used by August 2013). Conveniently for them but not so conveniently for taxpayers and congestion weary commuters, the ARMA controls the 281 environmental study and controls the timeline for completion.
The tolling authority only benefits if 281 is a toll road, not a free road. When the fox is guarding the henhouse, it’s no wonder the ARMA predicts clearance won’t happen until after the Prop 12 deadline passes to ensure revenue sources won’t be available to fix 281 without tolls. Due to this bias by TxDOT and the ARMA, $51 million of the $144 million in Prop 12 bonds have already been directed to “operational improvements” to onramps and exit ramps on I-35, not to the bigger problem of US 281.
Leadership vacuum
Aside from longstanding anti-toll advocates Commissioner Tommy Adkisson and State Representative Lyle Larson, what local leaders will step up to the plate and get 281 fixed without tolls as was promised way back in 2001? Who will move heaven and earth to ensure Prop 12 and other revenues don’t slip away due to a three month window the toll authority plans to exploit in its favor? No one has a crystal ball to know how long the clearance process will take once it reaches the feds, but Texas law now gives TxDOT and local entities a way to expedite projects....if they WANT to. Plus, the feds demonstrated a willingness to fast-track projects with time-sensitive deadlines as they did with the stimulus ‘shovel-ready’ deadlines.
San Antonio has NO representation on the Texas Transportation Commission. Governor Perry appoints the Transportation Commissioners. The Chairwoman, Deirdre Delisi, also happens to be one of the folks named to help run Perry’s presidential campaign. Does anyone else see a huge conflict of interest with the sitting Chair of the Texas Transportation Commission running Perry’s political campaign, especially with Perry’s pay-to-play crony capitalist track record? How easy to steer road contracts to those who Perry might tap to fund his presidential bid.
However, the Speaker of the Texas House, Joe Straus, hails from San Antonio and he virtually controls the pursestrings to the state budget, yet San Antonio continues to get short shrift when it comes to highway funding. As an example, Laredo received $262 million in Prop 14 bonds compared with San Antonio’s $34 million! These types of snubs have gone on for far too long. Could it be because San Antonio has been the one Texas city that has kept toll roads at bay?
One thing’s certain, San Antonio is being discriminated against for not embracing toll taxes, and of the funds it has been getting, they’ve gone to fund everything BUT the biggest congestion problem in the state of Texas, US 281. They’re without excuse. The record shows they’ve sit idly by and let it happen. Now is the time to set our transportation course aright. The failure of our leaders to get this right will most assuredly come back to haunt them.
For more information:
For ranking by Commuter Stress Index:
http://apps.dot.state.tx.us/apps/top_100/list.htm?item=15
For overall ranking of 100 Most Congested Roads by Texas Transportation Institute:
http://apps.dot.state.tx.us/apps/top_100/
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