Despite concerns, long-range transportation plan includes five toll roads.
Toll roads stay in CAMPO plan
Board of local leaders approved a long-range transportation plan that, despite concerns, still includes five toll roads.
By Ben Wear
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2005
Central Texas transportation leaders approved a $22.3 billion road-and-rail plan for the next generation Monday, in the process giving a second official — but guarded — thumbs-up to the area's second set of toll roads.
The 25-year plan, approved 18-5 by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board, contemplates adding 5,000 lane-miles of highways and streets, 276 miles of passenger rail lines and about $10 million a year for bicycle and pedestrian improvements. It includes $11 billion in road construction and $2 billion for public transportation and bicycle/pedestrian improvements.
Interstate 35 and MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) would get "managed lanes" throughout much of their Central Texas runs, lanes that probably would be free for carpools but would have tolls for cars with just one occupant.
And it includes making Ed Bluestein Boulevard, Texas 71 East, Texas 45 South, U.S. 290 East and U.S. 290 West toll roads.
Thanks to a late flurry of lobbying by environmental groups, as well as backstage negotiations between toll proponents and Austin City Council Member Brewster McCracken, it also includes instructions for a second pass at the plan over the next year and possible changes at that time.
Under an amendment added by McCracken and Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe, the CAMPO staff will participate in a $150,000 toll road study authorized by the Austin City Council in the spring. And the board, according to the McCracken-Biscoe amendment, also will consider land-planning concerns put forward by the group Liveable City in recent weeks.
Over the next year, Texas Department of Transportation Austin district engineer Bob Daigh said, work will continue or begin on several of the controversial toll roads. But no "irrevocable" actions will occur, he said, that would preclude the toll designations from being removed.
Though the study hardly amounts to a promise of no toll roads, leaving the door open a crack either mollified or confused the substantial crowd of anti-toll spectators.
Whereas the vote 11 months ago to create toll roads evoked boos, cries of "Shame, shame!" and vows to unseat some yes voters, this decision failed to generate even a murmur from the audience.
Each of the five who voted no on Monday also voted no last summer. But Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, who voted against the toll plan in July, voted yes this time. And state Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, who defeated Jack Stick in November, replaced Stick's no vote with a yes.
Transportation projects built with federal dollars, and that's basically all of them, can't be built without being in the CAMPO long-range plan.
Given the plan's gatekeeper role, interest groups recently pressed for the board to reject the plan and have the CAMPO staff craft a new plan, one without new toll roads and fewer lane-miles of roads heading to the far suburbs.
But the board faced a June 12 federal deadline for approving the plan. Had the board delayed a decision, contracts for construction of pending road and transit projects would have gone into limbo.
Ultimately, knowing that it could amend the plan at any time, the board decided to move ahead. Its chairman, state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, summed up the evolving nature of the Central Texas transportation Bible this way: "Success is not permanent, and failure is not fatal."
Central Texas on fast-forward
The 282-page CAMPO Mobility 2030 Plan makes assumptions about growth in Travis, Williamson and Hays counties; includes road, rail and bus projects to be built over the next 25 years; and has calculations about what travel in the area will be like if the $22.3 billion in transportation spending occurs. The plan::
* Assumes population of 2.75 million by 2030 in the three-county area, almost double the current population, with fastest growth in Hays and Williamson counties. .
* Would add almost 5,000 lane-miles of roads, including about 1,000 expressway and tollway miles.
* Includes 276 miles of passenger rail, including an Austin-San Antonio commuter line. Bus routes would go from about 1,300 miles now to about 2,700 miles.
* Estimates that percentage of roads congested at rush hour would increase from 10 percent to 29 percent.
* Estimates that weekday emissions of the two worst car pollutants would decrease from about 107 tons to about 32 tons.
* Estimates that truck traffic on Interstate 35 would basically double.
Notable road projects:
* Two 'managed lanes' (generally, tolls for single-occupant cars, free to carpoolers and buses) added to Interstate 35 from County Road 111 in Williamson County to Slaughter Lane in South Austin.
* Two managed lanes added on MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) from Parmer Lane to Slaughter Lane.
* Added lanes on U.S. 183 north of RM 620, managed lanes added south into Central Austin.
* Lanes and medians added to dozens of state highways, farm and ranch roads, county roads and major local arterial streets.
* Phase 2 toll road plan approved last year is included, with toll charges on five new or expanded highways in Austin.
* Eleven outlying highways would be studied, including Texas 71 and U.S. 290 east and west of Austin, that in an earlier draft of the 2030 plan were shown as tollways.
Austin American-Statesman: www.statesman.com
Board of local leaders approved a long-range transportation plan that, despite concerns, still includes five toll roads.
By Ben Wear
Austin American-Statesman
Copyright 2005
Central Texas transportation leaders approved a $22.3 billion road-and-rail plan for the next generation Monday, in the process giving a second official — but guarded — thumbs-up to the area's second set of toll roads.
The 25-year plan, approved 18-5 by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board, contemplates adding 5,000 lane-miles of highways and streets, 276 miles of passenger rail lines and about $10 million a year for bicycle and pedestrian improvements. It includes $11 billion in road construction and $2 billion for public transportation and bicycle/pedestrian improvements.
Interstate 35 and MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) would get "managed lanes" throughout much of their Central Texas runs, lanes that probably would be free for carpools but would have tolls for cars with just one occupant.
And it includes making Ed Bluestein Boulevard, Texas 71 East, Texas 45 South, U.S. 290 East and U.S. 290 West toll roads.
Thanks to a late flurry of lobbying by environmental groups, as well as backstage negotiations between toll proponents and Austin City Council Member Brewster McCracken, it also includes instructions for a second pass at the plan over the next year and possible changes at that time.
Under an amendment added by McCracken and Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe, the CAMPO staff will participate in a $150,000 toll road study authorized by the Austin City Council in the spring. And the board, according to the McCracken-Biscoe amendment, also will consider land-planning concerns put forward by the group Liveable City in recent weeks.
Over the next year, Texas Department of Transportation Austin district engineer Bob Daigh said, work will continue or begin on several of the controversial toll roads. But no "irrevocable" actions will occur, he said, that would preclude the toll designations from being removed.
Though the study hardly amounts to a promise of no toll roads, leaving the door open a crack either mollified or confused the substantial crowd of anti-toll spectators.
Whereas the vote 11 months ago to create toll roads evoked boos, cries of "Shame, shame!" and vows to unseat some yes voters, this decision failed to generate even a murmur from the audience.
Each of the five who voted no on Monday also voted no last summer. But Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, who voted against the toll plan in July, voted yes this time. And state Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, who defeated Jack Stick in November, replaced Stick's no vote with a yes.
Transportation projects built with federal dollars, and that's basically all of them, can't be built without being in the CAMPO long-range plan.
Given the plan's gatekeeper role, interest groups recently pressed for the board to reject the plan and have the CAMPO staff craft a new plan, one without new toll roads and fewer lane-miles of roads heading to the far suburbs.
But the board faced a June 12 federal deadline for approving the plan. Had the board delayed a decision, contracts for construction of pending road and transit projects would have gone into limbo.
Ultimately, knowing that it could amend the plan at any time, the board decided to move ahead. Its chairman, state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, summed up the evolving nature of the Central Texas transportation Bible this way: "Success is not permanent, and failure is not fatal."
Central Texas on fast-forward
The 282-page CAMPO Mobility 2030 Plan makes assumptions about growth in Travis, Williamson and Hays counties; includes road, rail and bus projects to be built over the next 25 years; and has calculations about what travel in the area will be like if the $22.3 billion in transportation spending occurs. The plan::
* Assumes population of 2.75 million by 2030 in the three-county area, almost double the current population, with fastest growth in Hays and Williamson counties. .
* Would add almost 5,000 lane-miles of roads, including about 1,000 expressway and tollway miles.
* Includes 276 miles of passenger rail, including an Austin-San Antonio commuter line. Bus routes would go from about 1,300 miles now to about 2,700 miles.
* Estimates that percentage of roads congested at rush hour would increase from 10 percent to 29 percent.
* Estimates that weekday emissions of the two worst car pollutants would decrease from about 107 tons to about 32 tons.
* Estimates that truck traffic on Interstate 35 would basically double.
Notable road projects:
* Two 'managed lanes' (generally, tolls for single-occupant cars, free to carpoolers and buses) added to Interstate 35 from County Road 111 in Williamson County to Slaughter Lane in South Austin.
* Two managed lanes added on MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) from Parmer Lane to Slaughter Lane.
* Added lanes on U.S. 183 north of RM 620, managed lanes added south into Central Austin.
* Lanes and medians added to dozens of state highways, farm and ranch roads, county roads and major local arterial streets.
* Phase 2 toll road plan approved last year is included, with toll charges on five new or expanded highways in Austin.
* Eleven outlying highways would be studied, including Texas 71 and U.S. 290 east and west of Austin, that in an earlier draft of the 2030 plan were shown as tollways.
Austin American-Statesman:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Wednesday, June 08, 2005
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