"These two transportation giants haven't come to terms on anything."
Bush Turnpike extension delayed
Rowlett: Work on hold as city, tollway agency fight over funding
April 19, 2006
By TONY HARTZEL
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006
PLANO – The North Texas Tollway Authority halted work Wednesday on the Bush Turnpike's eastern extension because of a long-running dispute with Rowlett about paying for land.
Rowlett is at odds with the tollway authority over the agency's suggestion that the city contribute $20 million to help defray the $150 million needed to buy land for the road from property owners. The city has passed a resolution supporting a maximum $20 million contribution but has never come to a formal agreement with the tollway authority on exactly how much to pay, Rowlett Mayor Shane Johnson said.
Until an agreement is reached, further planning and engineering work should be halted, the tollway authority's board of directors agreed Wednesday. Many officials said they didn't expect the delay to last very long.
"We're talking about a couple of weeks," Mr. Johnson said. "If it takes this type of public forum to engage the issue, we're fine with that."
Whether the impasse affects the project schedule remains unclear. Construction on the project was to begin in 2007. The turnpike section will run from State Highway 78 to Interstate 30 through Sachse, Garland and Rowlett. It is scheduled to open in 2010.
"I have no guarantee on that," said Allan Rutter, executive director of the tollway authority. "I can't make schedule guarantees until I get this critical path resolved."
Negotiations also have been more challenging because of the project's unprecedented nature. The eastern extension marks the first time that the Texas Department of Transportation and the tollway authority have tried to negotiate a split of excess toll revenue on a project that they both will help build.
On the eastern extension, the state transportation department has pledged to build the interchange at I-30 and a bridge over Lake Ray Hubbard for about $165 million. The tollway authority recently estimated that the 10-mile project would cost $782 million.
Revenue-sharing negotiations between the state and the tollway authority are progressing, but officials with both agencies have yet to reach a formal agreement. The state and tollway authority together have built other sections of the Bush Turnpike, but the state did not seek a share of the toll revenue.
Singled out?
Rowlett appears to be unfairly singled out as a sticking point in the negotiations when, in fact, the tollway authority and the Texas Department of Transportation also have had difficult financial negotiations, Mr. Johnson said.
"These two transportation giants haven't come to terms on anything," the mayor said. In previous discussions, he added, "we had to get them together to talk."
The tollway authority's work stoppage marks the latest salvo in 18 months of protracted negotiations with Rowlett. The agency, which has spent $8 million on the project's design and engineering plans, should not spend any more until right-of-way discussions have been settled with Rowlett, Mr. Rutter said.
Earlier this month, Rowlett suggested to the tollway authority that it should receive financial credit for preventing development along the route, thereby keeping land costs lower and reducing the amount of money the city should contribute.
Last week, the tollway authority rejected that idea. In a letter to Rowlett, Mr. Rutter also indicated that Rowlett's stance has prompted him and the agency to consider reducing turnpike costs by eliminating extra amenities requested by the city. Those amenities include wider frontage roads, specific intersections and U-turns.
Negotiations over land costs have created an opportunity for the state transportation department. The state has offered to help pay for the land – but probably for a price.
The state is paying 90 percent of the land costs for the sections it is building. Because the state still considers the turnpike part of the long-designated State Highway 190 loop, it could pay for a substantial share of the $150 million in land costs, said Bill Hale, the Dallas district engineer for the transportation department. In return, the state probably would consider an even greater share of the excess toll revenue collected.
"That could happen," Mr. Hale said.
Splitting the toll
The biggest issue remaining for the state and the tollway authority to work out is how to split the toll revenue not needed to pay for construction and maintenance.
"We're close on that," Mr. Hale added. "It is hard for cities to get on board without TxDOT and the NTTA being on board."
Mr. Hale went out of his way at Wednesday's meeting to point out that the state transportation department had nothing to do with the tollway authority's ongoing dispute with Rowlett.
"But since shots have been fired over each other's bow, we all need to get in a room and talk," Mr. Hale said.
Tollway authority board chairman David Blair Jr. agreed.
"This has nothing to do with TxDOT," he said.
While Mr. Rutter questioned the timing of the transportation department's offer, he said he also wanted to get the project moving again quickly. As negotiations drag on, the cost of steel, concrete and land keep rising, he said.
"This can't take months. I don't have months," he said.
Officials in Sachse and Garland, which have reached cost-sharing agreements with the tollway authority, say they will listen to new proposals from Mr. Hale and Rowlett. If no new agreement can be reached, Rowlett and the agency should hash out their existing differences, they said.
"We'll just have to see," said Robert Wunderlich, Garland's senior managing director of transportation and engineering. "We have committed to the original agreement. We don't want this new process to take six to nine months to put together."
E-mail thartzel@dallasnews.com
© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co www.dallasnews.com
Rowlett: Work on hold as city, tollway agency fight over funding
April 19, 2006
By TONY HARTZEL
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006
PLANO – The North Texas Tollway Authority halted work Wednesday on the Bush Turnpike's eastern extension because of a long-running dispute with Rowlett about paying for land.
Rowlett is at odds with the tollway authority over the agency's suggestion that the city contribute $20 million to help defray the $150 million needed to buy land for the road from property owners. The city has passed a resolution supporting a maximum $20 million contribution but has never come to a formal agreement with the tollway authority on exactly how much to pay, Rowlett Mayor Shane Johnson said.
Until an agreement is reached, further planning and engineering work should be halted, the tollway authority's board of directors agreed Wednesday. Many officials said they didn't expect the delay to last very long.
"We're talking about a couple of weeks," Mr. Johnson said. "If it takes this type of public forum to engage the issue, we're fine with that."
Whether the impasse affects the project schedule remains unclear. Construction on the project was to begin in 2007. The turnpike section will run from State Highway 78 to Interstate 30 through Sachse, Garland and Rowlett. It is scheduled to open in 2010.
"I have no guarantee on that," said Allan Rutter, executive director of the tollway authority. "I can't make schedule guarantees until I get this critical path resolved."
Negotiations also have been more challenging because of the project's unprecedented nature. The eastern extension marks the first time that the Texas Department of Transportation and the tollway authority have tried to negotiate a split of excess toll revenue on a project that they both will help build.
On the eastern extension, the state transportation department has pledged to build the interchange at I-30 and a bridge over Lake Ray Hubbard for about $165 million. The tollway authority recently estimated that the 10-mile project would cost $782 million.
Revenue-sharing negotiations between the state and the tollway authority are progressing, but officials with both agencies have yet to reach a formal agreement. The state and tollway authority together have built other sections of the Bush Turnpike, but the state did not seek a share of the toll revenue.
Singled out?
Rowlett appears to be unfairly singled out as a sticking point in the negotiations when, in fact, the tollway authority and the Texas Department of Transportation also have had difficult financial negotiations, Mr. Johnson said.
"These two transportation giants haven't come to terms on anything," the mayor said. In previous discussions, he added, "we had to get them together to talk."
The tollway authority's work stoppage marks the latest salvo in 18 months of protracted negotiations with Rowlett. The agency, which has spent $8 million on the project's design and engineering plans, should not spend any more until right-of-way discussions have been settled with Rowlett, Mr. Rutter said.
Earlier this month, Rowlett suggested to the tollway authority that it should receive financial credit for preventing development along the route, thereby keeping land costs lower and reducing the amount of money the city should contribute.
Last week, the tollway authority rejected that idea. In a letter to Rowlett, Mr. Rutter also indicated that Rowlett's stance has prompted him and the agency to consider reducing turnpike costs by eliminating extra amenities requested by the city. Those amenities include wider frontage roads, specific intersections and U-turns.
Negotiations over land costs have created an opportunity for the state transportation department. The state has offered to help pay for the land – but probably for a price.
The state is paying 90 percent of the land costs for the sections it is building. Because the state still considers the turnpike part of the long-designated State Highway 190 loop, it could pay for a substantial share of the $150 million in land costs, said Bill Hale, the Dallas district engineer for the transportation department. In return, the state probably would consider an even greater share of the excess toll revenue collected.
"That could happen," Mr. Hale said.
Splitting the toll
The biggest issue remaining for the state and the tollway authority to work out is how to split the toll revenue not needed to pay for construction and maintenance.
"We're close on that," Mr. Hale added. "It is hard for cities to get on board without TxDOT and the NTTA being on board."
Mr. Hale went out of his way at Wednesday's meeting to point out that the state transportation department had nothing to do with the tollway authority's ongoing dispute with Rowlett.
"But since shots have been fired over each other's bow, we all need to get in a room and talk," Mr. Hale said.
Tollway authority board chairman David Blair Jr. agreed.
"This has nothing to do with TxDOT," he said.
While Mr. Rutter questioned the timing of the transportation department's offer, he said he also wanted to get the project moving again quickly. As negotiations drag on, the cost of steel, concrete and land keep rising, he said.
"This can't take months. I don't have months," he said.
Officials in Sachse and Garland, which have reached cost-sharing agreements with the tollway authority, say they will listen to new proposals from Mr. Hale and Rowlett. If no new agreement can be reached, Rowlett and the agency should hash out their existing differences, they said.
"We'll just have to see," said Robert Wunderlich, Garland's senior managing director of transportation and engineering. "We have committed to the original agreement. We don't want this new process to take six to nine months to put together."
E-mail thartzel@dallasnews.com
© 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Wednesday, April 19, 2006
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