Frisco drivers may face $700 toll rise

January 26, 2006

By STEVE STOLER / WFAA-TV

Should you have to pay for roads somewhere else in the state?

That question is leading to a battle for control in Collin County.

At issue: Who will run State Highway 121.

Tolls will help speed up construction of the main lanes between the Dallas North Tollway and North Central Expressway.

But leaders from several communities are on a collision course with state officials.

Bruce Smith works at a corporate headquarters in Legacy Business Park. He drives on 121 to Plano every day.

"Of course nobody wants to spend extra money," he says.

Frisco leaders want to keep tolls affordable for all drivers.

They fear if the state awards contracts to private companies, thousands of drivers like Smith would pay higher tolls.

They estimate the average driver who travels to and from work on Highway 121 would pay $700 more in tolls annually under state control.

"Transportation is very expensive for us already," Smith said. "If there are ways to save us money, they should look into that as well."

"We want it to be the lowest possible rate it can be to pay for debt, maintenance and operation and improvements," said Frisco Mayor Mike Simpson.

But Ric Williamson, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, has said that the responsibility of the state is to build roads, not to keep tolls affordable.

"That's not our strategy. Our strategy is to let the consumer, the product, decide whether it's worth a buck or 10 cents or two bucks a mile, or whatever it is," Williamson said.

Leaders from Frisco, Plano, Allen, McKinney and Collin County want the state to let the North Texas Tollway Authority operate the Highway 121 toll road.

They said the NTTA is a known entity that will help keep tolls reasonably priced, while keeping the money in Collin County.

"I think it's important to keep that money local," said motorist Jeanine Connolly. "If I'm paying a convenience charge of a toll to drive on my local streets, I want that money to stay here in Collin County."

State and local leaders across Texas want to build badly needed new roads, but they don't have the money to do it.

The controversy here: Should excess money generated from State Highway 121 tolls be used to build new roads here in Collin County or anywhere in Texas it's needed?