TxDOT sets the stage for a private toll road builder in Houston
Plans for Beltway 8 near Fall Creek fuzzy
June 4, 2006
By RAD SALLEE
Houston Chronicle
Copyright 2006
Tracy Carrico and Mike Wantulla ask whether there are plans to extend Beltway 8 from the Eastex Freeway to U.S. 90, finally closing the big loop also known as the Sam Houston Tollway/Parkway.
"As the development increases at Fall Creek at Wilson Road and all of the new developments on West Lake Houston Parkway, the traffic would seem to justify an expansion," Carrico said.
Wantulla said that since he moved to Fall Creek in January 2005, "traffic has slowed to stop-and-go conditions ... and is getting worse."
It's a good question, because right now, the future of that segment is in doubt.
Today it consists only of frontage roads, between which is a wide median where the Harris County Toll Road Authority would like to build tolled main lanes. But spokeswoman Patricia Freise says plans for that project are not final.
One sticking point is money. For decades, the Texas Department of Transportation lacked authority to build toll roads and was willing to let the Harris County Toll Road Authority use state-owned right of way to build its own free of charge.
But legislation in 2003 gave TxDOT new powers, including the right to contract with others, such as the Toll Road Authority and private business, to build and operate toll roads on TxDOT land.
This meant that TxDOT could "use roads as a tool to generate revenue," said agency spokeswoman Janelle Gbur.
Now vigorously following that policy, TxDOT recently advised Harris County officials that it will cost them $1.2 billion and an unspecified share of future toll revenue for the Toll Road Authority to build three planned toll roads — including the segment in question — on TxDOT land.
Gbur said TxDOT has neither sought nor received other proposals for the route. She said it gave the authority "first opportunity to be a partner with us" as a courtesy because of their past relationship.
Although Gbur said she knows of no deadline for the county to respond, the offer is not likely to sit on the table forever. "The northeast quadrant is rapidly developing, and the demand for those main lanes increases every day," she said.
traffic@chron.com
© 2006 Houston Chronicle: www.chron.com
June 4, 2006
By RAD SALLEE
Houston Chronicle
Copyright 2006
Tracy Carrico and Mike Wantulla ask whether there are plans to extend Beltway 8 from the Eastex Freeway to U.S. 90, finally closing the big loop also known as the Sam Houston Tollway/Parkway.
"As the development increases at Fall Creek at Wilson Road and all of the new developments on West Lake Houston Parkway, the traffic would seem to justify an expansion," Carrico said.
Wantulla said that since he moved to Fall Creek in January 2005, "traffic has slowed to stop-and-go conditions ... and is getting worse."
It's a good question, because right now, the future of that segment is in doubt.
Today it consists only of frontage roads, between which is a wide median where the Harris County Toll Road Authority would like to build tolled main lanes. But spokeswoman Patricia Freise says plans for that project are not final.
One sticking point is money. For decades, the Texas Department of Transportation lacked authority to build toll roads and was willing to let the Harris County Toll Road Authority use state-owned right of way to build its own free of charge.
But legislation in 2003 gave TxDOT new powers, including the right to contract with others, such as the Toll Road Authority and private business, to build and operate toll roads on TxDOT land.
This meant that TxDOT could "use roads as a tool to generate revenue," said agency spokeswoman Janelle Gbur.
Now vigorously following that policy, TxDOT recently advised Harris County officials that it will cost them $1.2 billion and an unspecified share of future toll revenue for the Toll Road Authority to build three planned toll roads — including the segment in question — on TxDOT land.
Gbur said TxDOT has neither sought nor received other proposals for the route. She said it gave the authority "first opportunity to be a partner with us" as a courtesy because of their past relationship.
Although Gbur said she knows of no deadline for the county to respond, the offer is not likely to sit on the table forever. "The northeast quadrant is rapidly developing, and the demand for those main lanes increases every day," she said.
traffic@chron.com
© 2006 Houston Chronicle:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Monday, June 05, 2006
<< Home