TxDOT pushes tolling Interstate 10
Officials say toll roads can fund I-10 projects
February 4, 2006
By Zahira Torres
El Paso Times
Copyright 2006
If new funding sources — including toll lanes and toll ways — are not created, El Pasoans may have to wait more than two decades before money can be gathered to alleviate traffic on Interstate 10, Texas Department of Transportation Officials said Friday.
“We have a very big challenge in El Paso, and TxDOT is proposing a solution to that problem,” said Charles H. Berry Jr., El Paso district engineer.
“Historically and traditionally there have only been a couple ways of paying for highways in the state of Texas ... and that has come to us from gasoline payments. Our gasoline prices include a state and a federal gasoline tax. Those two taxes have not changed since the early 1990s, and we’re still paying the same rates.”
Berry said these funding sources are no longer enough to provide for a growing city with increased traffic, like El Paso. The Department of Transportation receives between $28 million and $30 million a year for new projects, but officials said that money is tied up in other necessary projects through 2030.
Berry added that if new funding sources are not sought, some projects might be on the back burner for at least 26 years before they can be considered.
Through its El Paso District Mobility and Funding Study, the Transportation Department is hoping to expedite several projects expected to ease I-10 traffic: an $800 million Southern Relief Route proposal to widen and extend the Border Highway West and the $204 million Northeast Parkway, which will begin at the Purple Heart segment of Loop 375 and continue northwest to New Mexico Highway 404.
Officials do not yet know how much money is needed for a Northern Relief Route proposal, but estimate the Texas section from Purple Heart highway to the New Mexico state line would cost $204 million.
To get some of these projects under way, parts of Border Highway West and I-10 from Sunland Park Drive to the New Mexico state line are being considered for express toll lanes. The Northeast Parkway would become a toll way.
Six other funding sources are also being considered to help pay for each project. The sources include Proposition 14 bonds, which authorize the Transportation Department to issue notes or borrow money to fund highway improvement projects, and pass-through financing, which allows private or public entities to fund a project and be reimbursed by the department at a later date.
El Paso will also receive a one-time allocation of $108 million through the Texas Mobility Fund within the next three years as long the city can show that it is using other funding sources.
East Side resident Sheri Huerta, who has lived in cities with toll ways and toll lanes, said she does not want to see them in El Paso.
“The city keeps growing and all we have is I-10 or Loop (375) so I think some (of the plans for roads) are necessary,” Huerta said. “I would think, from what I’ve heard from people I’ve talked to and people at work, that (TXDOT) would have a better chance of getting the money through the proposed bonds or paybacks because people are going to purposely avoid tolls.”
Officials said that the construction of toll ways and toll lanes would not affect construction of additional non-toll roadways as the city continues to grow.
“If anything, it will help because the toll lanes will pay for their own upkeep,” said Marty Boyd, mobility coordinator.
The Mobility and Funding study has yet to address how much money would come from toll lanes and toll ways but officials said that revenue would stay within the region.
Zahira Torres may be reached at ztorres@elpasotimes.com; 546-6156.
Copyright © 2006 El Paso Times www.borderlandnews.com
February 4, 2006
By Zahira Torres
El Paso Times
Copyright 2006
If new funding sources — including toll lanes and toll ways — are not created, El Pasoans may have to wait more than two decades before money can be gathered to alleviate traffic on Interstate 10, Texas Department of Transportation Officials said Friday.
“We have a very big challenge in El Paso, and TxDOT is proposing a solution to that problem,” said Charles H. Berry Jr., El Paso district engineer.
“Historically and traditionally there have only been a couple ways of paying for highways in the state of Texas ... and that has come to us from gasoline payments. Our gasoline prices include a state and a federal gasoline tax. Those two taxes have not changed since the early 1990s, and we’re still paying the same rates.”
Berry said these funding sources are no longer enough to provide for a growing city with increased traffic, like El Paso. The Department of Transportation receives between $28 million and $30 million a year for new projects, but officials said that money is tied up in other necessary projects through 2030.
Berry added that if new funding sources are not sought, some projects might be on the back burner for at least 26 years before they can be considered.
Through its El Paso District Mobility and Funding Study, the Transportation Department is hoping to expedite several projects expected to ease I-10 traffic: an $800 million Southern Relief Route proposal to widen and extend the Border Highway West and the $204 million Northeast Parkway, which will begin at the Purple Heart segment of Loop 375 and continue northwest to New Mexico Highway 404.
Officials do not yet know how much money is needed for a Northern Relief Route proposal, but estimate the Texas section from Purple Heart highway to the New Mexico state line would cost $204 million.
To get some of these projects under way, parts of Border Highway West and I-10 from Sunland Park Drive to the New Mexico state line are being considered for express toll lanes. The Northeast Parkway would become a toll way.
Six other funding sources are also being considered to help pay for each project. The sources include Proposition 14 bonds, which authorize the Transportation Department to issue notes or borrow money to fund highway improvement projects, and pass-through financing, which allows private or public entities to fund a project and be reimbursed by the department at a later date.
El Paso will also receive a one-time allocation of $108 million through the Texas Mobility Fund within the next three years as long the city can show that it is using other funding sources.
East Side resident Sheri Huerta, who has lived in cities with toll ways and toll lanes, said she does not want to see them in El Paso.
“The city keeps growing and all we have is I-10 or Loop (375) so I think some (of the plans for roads) are necessary,” Huerta said. “I would think, from what I’ve heard from people I’ve talked to and people at work, that (TXDOT) would have a better chance of getting the money through the proposed bonds or paybacks because people are going to purposely avoid tolls.”
Officials said that the construction of toll ways and toll lanes would not affect construction of additional non-toll roadways as the city continues to grow.
“If anything, it will help because the toll lanes will pay for their own upkeep,” said Marty Boyd, mobility coordinator.
The Mobility and Funding study has yet to address how much money would come from toll lanes and toll ways but officials said that revenue would stay within the region.
Zahira Torres may be reached at ztorres@elpasotimes.com; 546-6156.
Copyright © 2006 El Paso Times
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Saturday, February 04, 2006
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