Local 121 tollers buckle under pressure from TxDOT
Collin to work with toll agency
Collin: But 121 fees could be higher after officials nix idea of local control
November 17, 2005
By TONY HARTZEL
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2005
Collin County officials won't lobby the state for a new local agency to build and operate toll roads on State Highway 121, an official said Wednesday.
Instead, local officials hope to work with the North Texas Tollway Authority to determine how the project can be accomplished, although it's possible that motorists on a Highway 121 toll road could pay fees slightly higher than anticipated. Many details could be resolved by the time leaders in Collin County and its four largest cities meet with the Texas Transportation Commission in Austin on Dec. 15 to discuss Highway 121's future as a toll road.
"It presents a challenge," Collin County Commissioner Jack Hatchell said. "We hope to at least have a concept to go down to the highway commission with."
County officials had expressed hope to create their own agency that would charge motorists 12 cents a mile, enough to recoup project costs. If tolls are expected to generate revenue for other nontoll road work, a rate closer to 15 cents a mile is expected.
County leaders met Tuesday with consultants to determine how a toll road could be built by the existing tollway authority.
At issue is the state's view that Highway 121 is an asset that will produce toll revenue that could be used for other projects. That could lead to an unprecedented case in which toll revenue collected by the tollway authority could be spent on nontoll road projects, probably in Collin County.
Under one scenario, the agency would lease the land and the existing road from the state, then finish the project as part of its system. State officials have mentioned total payments of about $300 million. Any toll revenue that exceeds projections could go to the tollway authority, which might be a sticking point for the state.
The other option would be for the tollway authority to build Highway 121 in Collin County as a separate project. In that case, construction bonds would not be guaranteed by tolls on other area toll roads. That would probably drive up borrowing and overall project costs and could drive up the toll on the 10-mile project.
North Texas' Regional Transportation Council would have to approve any plan before it is sent to the state.
Four private companies also have bid for the rights to a Highway 121 toll road in Denton and Collin counties, and the state wants to move forward with those proposals by early next year if local officials' proposals won't work.
Collin County's efforts are good examples of Gov. Rick Perry's efforts to give regional officials more control over transportation funding decisions, Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson said.
"It's up to those people to negotiate that. We will look at what they bring to us," he said. "We're all going to face these issues as the concept of regionalism in the state expands."
E-mail thartzel@dallasnews.com
Dallas Morning News: www.dallasnews.com
Collin: But 121 fees could be higher after officials nix idea of local control
November 17, 2005
By TONY HARTZEL
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2005
Collin County officials won't lobby the state for a new local agency to build and operate toll roads on State Highway 121, an official said Wednesday.
Instead, local officials hope to work with the North Texas Tollway Authority to determine how the project can be accomplished, although it's possible that motorists on a Highway 121 toll road could pay fees slightly higher than anticipated. Many details could be resolved by the time leaders in Collin County and its four largest cities meet with the Texas Transportation Commission in Austin on Dec. 15 to discuss Highway 121's future as a toll road.
"It presents a challenge," Collin County Commissioner Jack Hatchell said. "We hope to at least have a concept to go down to the highway commission with."
County officials had expressed hope to create their own agency that would charge motorists 12 cents a mile, enough to recoup project costs. If tolls are expected to generate revenue for other nontoll road work, a rate closer to 15 cents a mile is expected.
County leaders met Tuesday with consultants to determine how a toll road could be built by the existing tollway authority.
At issue is the state's view that Highway 121 is an asset that will produce toll revenue that could be used for other projects. That could lead to an unprecedented case in which toll revenue collected by the tollway authority could be spent on nontoll road projects, probably in Collin County.
Under one scenario, the agency would lease the land and the existing road from the state, then finish the project as part of its system. State officials have mentioned total payments of about $300 million. Any toll revenue that exceeds projections could go to the tollway authority, which might be a sticking point for the state.
The other option would be for the tollway authority to build Highway 121 in Collin County as a separate project. In that case, construction bonds would not be guaranteed by tolls on other area toll roads. That would probably drive up borrowing and overall project costs and could drive up the toll on the 10-mile project.
North Texas' Regional Transportation Council would have to approve any plan before it is sent to the state.
Four private companies also have bid for the rights to a Highway 121 toll road in Denton and Collin counties, and the state wants to move forward with those proposals by early next year if local officials' proposals won't work.
Collin County's efforts are good examples of Gov. Rick Perry's efforts to give regional officials more control over transportation funding decisions, Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson said.
"It's up to those people to negotiate that. We will look at what they bring to us," he said. "We're all going to face these issues as the concept of regionalism in the state expands."
E-mail thartzel@dallasnews.com
Dallas Morning News:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Thursday, November 17, 2005
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