"This is the new paradigm. This is the way of building roads in Texas.”
Wavering support: Commissioners split on support of CDA option to toll 121
April 22, 2006
By KRYSTAL DE LOS SANTOS
McKinney Courier-Gazette
Copyright 2006
The Collin County Commissioners' Court on Friday entertained a motion to agree to back the comprehensive development agreement process for tolling S.H. 121 and “mend fences” with the Texas Department of Transportation, but was deadlocked with a split vote-two commissioners voted for backing a CDA, and two voted against it.
Pct. 3 Commissioner Joe Jaynes, who represents McKinney, made a motion to back allowing a private company to build and manage the state highway through Collin County, and Commissioner Jerry Hoagland seconded the motion. However, commissioners Phyllis Cole and Jack Hatchell voted to stick behind the county's almost certainly doomed choice to support the North Texas Tollway Authority's bid for the right to build the toll road.
“I know we need to mend some fences, but we also need to stand by what our cities are telling us,” Hatchell said. “We know McKinney is just ‘let's go for it,' and we know what Frisco has done, so let's find out what Plano and Allen want.”
The City of Frisco had drafted a resolution which supported tolling S.H. 121 if the toll rate was kept at 12 cents per mile and if NTTA would be allowed to build and operate the road, and the other four cities and Collin County later adopted the same resolution. But with recent actions by the Regional Transportation Council, Frisco decided that it's requirements for tolling support would not be met and it revoked the resolution April 4. The City of McKinney, on the other hand, has reaffirmed its support for tolling the road, hoping to get S.H. 121 built quickly and with plenty of excess funds generated to improve U.S. 75.
Still, Hatchell said that dropping support for the NTTA proposal is “premature” because there is “still a glimmer of hope,” that the RTC will accept the NTTA's bid over a private bid.
Commissioner Hoagland is not so sure, he said.
“I walked out of (a meeting with state officials) with the conclusion that one: this is going to be a toll road; two: that we need the road and three: that it needs to be done with a CDA,” he said. “We need to get with the program or we get nothing. We can object all we want to, but ultimately, it's the state's road, not Collin County's road... This is the new paradigm. This is the way of building roads in Texas.”
Commissioner Jaynes agreed that the county could end up with “a whole heap of nothing.”
However, County Judge Ron Harris said that tolling S.H. 121 through a CDA is “not right” and that other areas are experiencing the same struggles with Texas transportation officials. He added that policies could change during the next legislative session.
“It's not as dead as you believe it to be,” he said.
Other county and city officials disagree.
Last week, the RTC decided to set some requirements for S.H. 121 bidders, including an expectation that the company will pay 75 percent of the expected revenue from the road up front and that the toll rate will be 14.5 cents per mile and 17 cents at peak traffic times.
The new rules mean that private companies now have even more of an advantage than the NTTA, a non-profit, Plano-based organization.
Private bidders now, with the new toll rates, can offer $700 million to $900 million up front for the right to build the road. Earlier estimates concluded that a CDA with a private company could generate up to $575 million up front.
The North Texas Tollway Authority, on the other hand, has offered to pay $515 million over a 50-year period.
Planners are considering using tolls to pay for main-lane construction and interchanges at the Dallas North Tollway and at North Central Expressway. The cost is estimated to be $345 million.
Hatchell said that the RTC has also outlined the process for distributing excess revenue both from up front money paid by the builder and excess revenue from tolls paid by drivers on S.H. 121.
Under the RTC plan, all excess upfront revenue would be disbursed by RTC to Collin County. The excess revenue from tolls would be distributed based upon the residence of the drivers. For example, if 60 percent of the drivers on the tolled portion of S.H. 121 are from Collin County, Collin County would get 60 percent of the excess revenue.
“We've made every effort we could to change TxDOT's opinion, to change the RTC's opinion and we failed,” Hatchell said. “We need to move on with the program.”
Staff writer Amy Morenz contributed to this report.
Contact Krystal De Los Santos at krystal.delossantos@scntx.com.
Copyright © 2006 Star Community Newspapers www.allenamerican.com
April 22, 2006
By KRYSTAL DE LOS SANTOS
McKinney Courier-Gazette
Copyright 2006
The Collin County Commissioners' Court on Friday entertained a motion to agree to back the comprehensive development agreement process for tolling S.H. 121 and “mend fences” with the Texas Department of Transportation, but was deadlocked with a split vote-two commissioners voted for backing a CDA, and two voted against it.
Pct. 3 Commissioner Joe Jaynes, who represents McKinney, made a motion to back allowing a private company to build and manage the state highway through Collin County, and Commissioner Jerry Hoagland seconded the motion. However, commissioners Phyllis Cole and Jack Hatchell voted to stick behind the county's almost certainly doomed choice to support the North Texas Tollway Authority's bid for the right to build the toll road.
“I know we need to mend some fences, but we also need to stand by what our cities are telling us,” Hatchell said. “We know McKinney is just ‘let's go for it,' and we know what Frisco has done, so let's find out what Plano and Allen want.”
The City of Frisco had drafted a resolution which supported tolling S.H. 121 if the toll rate was kept at 12 cents per mile and if NTTA would be allowed to build and operate the road, and the other four cities and Collin County later adopted the same resolution. But with recent actions by the Regional Transportation Council, Frisco decided that it's requirements for tolling support would not be met and it revoked the resolution April 4. The City of McKinney, on the other hand, has reaffirmed its support for tolling the road, hoping to get S.H. 121 built quickly and with plenty of excess funds generated to improve U.S. 75.
Still, Hatchell said that dropping support for the NTTA proposal is “premature” because there is “still a glimmer of hope,” that the RTC will accept the NTTA's bid over a private bid.
Commissioner Hoagland is not so sure, he said.
“I walked out of (a meeting with state officials) with the conclusion that one: this is going to be a toll road; two: that we need the road and three: that it needs to be done with a CDA,” he said. “We need to get with the program or we get nothing. We can object all we want to, but ultimately, it's the state's road, not Collin County's road... This is the new paradigm. This is the way of building roads in Texas.”
Commissioner Jaynes agreed that the county could end up with “a whole heap of nothing.”
However, County Judge Ron Harris said that tolling S.H. 121 through a CDA is “not right” and that other areas are experiencing the same struggles with Texas transportation officials. He added that policies could change during the next legislative session.
“It's not as dead as you believe it to be,” he said.
Other county and city officials disagree.
Last week, the RTC decided to set some requirements for S.H. 121 bidders, including an expectation that the company will pay 75 percent of the expected revenue from the road up front and that the toll rate will be 14.5 cents per mile and 17 cents at peak traffic times.
The new rules mean that private companies now have even more of an advantage than the NTTA, a non-profit, Plano-based organization.
Private bidders now, with the new toll rates, can offer $700 million to $900 million up front for the right to build the road. Earlier estimates concluded that a CDA with a private company could generate up to $575 million up front.
The North Texas Tollway Authority, on the other hand, has offered to pay $515 million over a 50-year period.
Planners are considering using tolls to pay for main-lane construction and interchanges at the Dallas North Tollway and at North Central Expressway. The cost is estimated to be $345 million.
Hatchell said that the RTC has also outlined the process for distributing excess revenue both from up front money paid by the builder and excess revenue from tolls paid by drivers on S.H. 121.
Under the RTC plan, all excess upfront revenue would be disbursed by RTC to Collin County. The excess revenue from tolls would be distributed based upon the residence of the drivers. For example, if 60 percent of the drivers on the tolled portion of S.H. 121 are from Collin County, Collin County would get 60 percent of the excess revenue.
“We've made every effort we could to change TxDOT's opinion, to change the RTC's opinion and we failed,” Hatchell said. “We need to move on with the program.”
Staff writer Amy Morenz contributed to this report.
Contact Krystal De Los Santos at krystal.delossantos@scntx.com.
Copyright © 2006 Star Community Newspapers
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Saturday, April 22, 2006
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