"I am concerned that the public doesn't understand it."
Regional toll road authority on hold
January 14, 2006
David Crowder
El Paso Times
Copyright 2006
After hearing comments Friday in favor of and opposed to the establishment of a regional mobility authority, a City Council committee decided that it wanted at least two public hearings on the issue before making a recommendation to the full council.
"I am concerned that the public doesn't understand it," said Northeast city Rep. Melina Castro, chairwoman of the council's Transportation Legislative Review Committee. "We'll try to set up a hearing in the next two weeks."
Castro also asked Veronica Callaghan, chairwoman of the mayor's Transportation Cabinet, to try arranging the second public hearing on the creation of an authority, which would have the power to initiate major transportation projects that would be partly paid for by road tolls. No schedule was set for those meetings.
Texas Department of Transportation representative Eduardo Caldo said El Paso has a list of expensive transportation projects that the state will not get to for years without local tolls.
He offered assurances that if the city creates a mobility authority that decides to raise money for projects through road tolls, then tollbooths would go up only on newly built roads or new lanes.
"Nobody is forced to use these lanes," he said. "You will always have a non-tolled option."
For example, one proposal calls for adding two toll lanes to the Border Highway in what is now the median. The new lanes would allow people in a hurry to use a toll lane, which would reduce traffic in the free lanes.
Overall, he said, El Paso has about $426 million worth of big projects in the planning stages that could be hurried up if additional money were available.
But more than once, Castro questioned whether the tolls collected would raise enough money to pay the required portion of a big project's cost.
William Hart, a former New Yorker who periodically lectures the City Council on the evils of toll roads, urged the committee not to open the door to toll roads.
"It's a bad idea," Hart said, referring to toll road advocates as "colossal liars."
Speaking for the Transportation Cabinet and the Paso del Norte Group, Gilberto Moreno said El Paso is the last major metropolitan area in Texas that has yet to establish an authority and will risk the lose of millions of dollars in state money if it fails to do so.
David Crowder may be reached at dcrowder@elpasotimes.com; 546-6194.
© 2006 El Paso Times www.borderlandnews.com
January 14, 2006
David Crowder
El Paso Times
Copyright 2006
After hearing comments Friday in favor of and opposed to the establishment of a regional mobility authority, a City Council committee decided that it wanted at least two public hearings on the issue before making a recommendation to the full council.
"I am concerned that the public doesn't understand it," said Northeast city Rep. Melina Castro, chairwoman of the council's Transportation Legislative Review Committee. "We'll try to set up a hearing in the next two weeks."
Castro also asked Veronica Callaghan, chairwoman of the mayor's Transportation Cabinet, to try arranging the second public hearing on the creation of an authority, which would have the power to initiate major transportation projects that would be partly paid for by road tolls. No schedule was set for those meetings.
Texas Department of Transportation representative Eduardo Caldo said El Paso has a list of expensive transportation projects that the state will not get to for years without local tolls.
He offered assurances that if the city creates a mobility authority that decides to raise money for projects through road tolls, then tollbooths would go up only on newly built roads or new lanes.
"Nobody is forced to use these lanes," he said. "You will always have a non-tolled option."
For example, one proposal calls for adding two toll lanes to the Border Highway in what is now the median. The new lanes would allow people in a hurry to use a toll lane, which would reduce traffic in the free lanes.
Overall, he said, El Paso has about $426 million worth of big projects in the planning stages that could be hurried up if additional money were available.
But more than once, Castro questioned whether the tolls collected would raise enough money to pay the required portion of a big project's cost.
William Hart, a former New Yorker who periodically lectures the City Council on the evils of toll roads, urged the committee not to open the door to toll roads.
"It's a bad idea," Hart said, referring to toll road advocates as "colossal liars."
Speaking for the Transportation Cabinet and the Paso del Norte Group, Gilberto Moreno said El Paso is the last major metropolitan area in Texas that has yet to establish an authority and will risk the lose of millions of dollars in state money if it fails to do so.
David Crowder may be reached at dcrowder@elpasotimes.com; 546-6194.
© 2006 El Paso Times
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Saturday, January 14, 2006
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