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Challenging the Wisdom of the Trans Texas Corridor.
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Perry signs toll road bill June 12, 2007 By Stephen Palkot, FORT BEND HERALD A bill that places a two-year moratorium on private toll road agreements in Texas was signed by Gov. Rick Perry on Monday. The bill, Senate Bill 792, was pushed by opponents of the Trans Texas Corridor, which is a proposed set of privately-funded toll roads throughout Texas. The final version of the bill represents a compromise between opponents of the TTC and Perry, its main backer. Specifically, the bill prevents the Texas Department of Transportation from entering what are called comprehensive development agreements, or CDAs, which are contracts for private companies to build and profit from toll roads in Texas. The watered-down bill received support from Houston area officials, including members of the Fort Bend County Commissioners Court. It includes provisions allowing area counties to construct their own toll roads on land owned by TxDOT, with toll revenues returning to the counties. County Judge Bob Hebert said the bill clears the way for Fort Bend County to construct extensions of both the Westpark Tollway and the Fort Bend Parkway. The exiting portions were built by Fort Bend County and tolls go into Fort Bend County, but TxDOT had been demanding a portion of tolls from any added sections of those roads. Hebert said SB 792 gives the county the authority to keep all revenue from any extension of those roads. "So we can use the same model that we used in the first phase of those roads," said Hebert. Not included in the legislation is a plan whereby the Harris County Toll Road Authority would build a series of road expansions totaling $21 billion throughout the Houston region. The plan called for charging tolls on a few of the roads to pay for the construction of the entire set. The Grand Parkway would have been expanded to include tolled overpass lanes in Fort Bend County, while U.S. 59 would have been widened in Rosenberg and Richmond without the addition of any toll lanes. This plan was killed by the new legislation, said Hebert.
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This Page Last Updated: Monday June 18, 2007