2004.09.13
The DALLAS NEWS and
other papers and broadcasters have been reporting
that the state of Texas has just acquired its first
tollroad. "First Texas-owned toll road opens" was
the DALLAS NEWS headline Sept 11.
Don't suppose you
reporters ever learned any local history there in
Dallas, or consulted the 'clips,' or asked someone
who might know before grandly pronouncing this
"first."
Listen up you
thickheads. Right there in the middle of the Dallas
Fort Worth area you have two major highways built as
state tollroads, almost half a century before they
took over Carlos Benavides failed pike way out there
in Laredo TX earlier this year.
They were:
1. I-30, built as the
Dallas Fort Worth Turnpike, opening 5 Sept 1957
2. Dallas North Tollway
opening 11 Feb 1968
Don't suppose you
consult such a thing as a book there at the DALLAS
NEWS. Newspapers have never exactly encouraged
reporters to read. I well remember an
editor-in-chief who caught me reading a book (for a
book review) angrily shouting at the top of his
lungs: "Samuel we pay you to write, for God's sake.
We don't pay you to read."
If you had consulted the
"History of the Texas Turnpike Authority" by Jesse
Sublett it would take you about two minutes to learn
that the state of Texas formed the Texas Turnpike
Authority in 1953. It was a state agency with a
board appointed by the state governor.
The history records the
opening of the 30-mile I-30: "Opened for business a
month and a day before the Russians launched
Sputnik, the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike was the kind
of technological achievement that inspired feelings
of pride, loyalty and good cheer. Newspapers, radio
and television, then a relatively new medium,
constantly featured the turnpike in headline
stories, editorials and human interest stories. And
over the course of the history of the Dallas-Fort
Worth turnpike few public figures garnered more
publicity, or for that matter, held such a
distinguished record of public service." (p20)
Both state tollroads
were highly successful. The Dallas Fort Worth
Turnpike raked in the tolls and paid off its bonds
17 years ahead of their coupon date. They ceased
collecting tolls 31 Dec 1977 after a lively argument
between civic leaders in Dallas and Fort Worth.
Dallas wisely favored retaining tolls to finance
maintenance and expansion, but Fort Worth
shortsightedly wanted tolls off. Foolish promises
had been made that the road would be free when the
original bonds were paid off and on that basis a
judge settled the matter in favor of Fort Worth.
The Dallas North Tollway
was the second big project of the Texas state toll
agency and it too has thrived, been extended several
times, and been much rebuilt. And of course tolls
have been retained. The Dallas North Tollway was
transferred from the state's Turnpike Authority to
its current owner the North Texas Tollway Authority
(NTTA) in 1997. At that time the Texas Turnpike
Authority became a division of the Texas Department
of Transportation in state capital Austin where it
is busily sponsoring new tollroads.
NTTA calls itself "a
political subdivision of the State of Texas under
Chapter 366 of the Transportation Code..." However
NTTA can be seen as a regional rather than a state
agency, since its activities are regionally
circumscribed. Only one of its seven board members
is appointed by the state governor, the other six
are appointed by the counties in which the agency
operates. (Corrected 2004-09-14 thanks to reader who
drew our attention to a mistake here.)
So certainly it is
arguable that at the moment the only tollroad
operated by the state is the Camino-Colombia. But
that's VAIIIRY different from saying it was the
first.
TOLLROADSnews 2004-0912
