An end to months of bitterness?
Toll-road agreement expected Thursday
8/9/06
By GORDON DICKSON
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Copyright 2006
IRVING — Months of wrangling over who should build area toll roads and collect the tolls may be nearing an end.
The North Texas Tollway Authority is expected to approve an agreement Thursday to build some of the toll roads, including Fort Worth’s planned Southwest Parkway. But the agreement also allows the Texas Department of Transportation to seek private bidders for some toll roads, including Texas 121 in Collin County and Texas 161 in Grand Prairie.
The authority board meets Thursday morning in Plano.
The agreement between the tollway authority and state agency doesn’t change much in Tarrant County. Both parties have understood for many years that the authority would take the lead on Southwest Parkway, the local name for the extension of a state highway, Texas 121, south of downtown Fort Worth, officials from both sides said Wednesday.
But it does signal an end to months of bitterness in places such as Collin and Dallas counties. And, state officials say, it finally puts in writing a policy that everyone can use in planning future Dallas-Fort Worth roads.
“It’s important because, if the tollway authority approves it, it sets the course for the entire region and not just Collin County and Denton County,” said Maribel Chavez, transportation department Fort Worth district engineer. “It’s a cohesive regional policy.”
In Collin and Dallas counties, state officials have called for private development of Texas 121 and Texas 161, which could generate millions of extra private dollars for other road work, while municipal and county leaders have said they’d rather that the tollway authority build the roads – and keep tolls as low as possible.
The compromise allows the state to put Texas 121 in Collin County and Texas 161 in Dallas County up for bid, and let the private sector build them, but designates the tollway authority as the official toll collection agency on those roads for at least the first five years.
“It is workable,” tollway authority board member Jack Miller of Denton said Wednesday. “It requires us to work together, which I think we should be doing anyway.”
If approved by the tollway board, the policy will then be considered by the state transportation commission. The policy calls for the tollway authority to be the lead agency in planning future toll roads. In addition to toll road projects that are already widely known, other possible future projects include the extension of Texas 360 in Mansfield to the south, and the creation of an outer loop roughly following Farm Road 1187 in southern Tarrant County and the old Loop 9 plans in south Dallas.
The compromise
Details of the deal between the North Texas Tollway Authority and Texas Department of Transportation
Tollway authority remains responsible for building Southwest Parkway, the Lake Lewisville Bridge and President George Bush Turnpike eastern extension. The authority also remains the main planner of any future toll roads.
The state agency may accept bids from private firms to build Texas 121 in Collin County and Texas 161 in Grand Prairie. However, the tollway authority will be the toll collection agency on those roads for at least the first five years.
________________________________________
Gordon Dickson, 817-685-3816
gdickson@star-telegram.com
© 2006 Fort Worth Star-Telegram : www.dfw.com
8/9/06
By GORDON DICKSON
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Copyright 2006
IRVING — Months of wrangling over who should build area toll roads and collect the tolls may be nearing an end.
The North Texas Tollway Authority is expected to approve an agreement Thursday to build some of the toll roads, including Fort Worth’s planned Southwest Parkway. But the agreement also allows the Texas Department of Transportation to seek private bidders for some toll roads, including Texas 121 in Collin County and Texas 161 in Grand Prairie.
The authority board meets Thursday morning in Plano.
The agreement between the tollway authority and state agency doesn’t change much in Tarrant County. Both parties have understood for many years that the authority would take the lead on Southwest Parkway, the local name for the extension of a state highway, Texas 121, south of downtown Fort Worth, officials from both sides said Wednesday.
But it does signal an end to months of bitterness in places such as Collin and Dallas counties. And, state officials say, it finally puts in writing a policy that everyone can use in planning future Dallas-Fort Worth roads.
“It’s important because, if the tollway authority approves it, it sets the course for the entire region and not just Collin County and Denton County,” said Maribel Chavez, transportation department Fort Worth district engineer. “It’s a cohesive regional policy.”
In Collin and Dallas counties, state officials have called for private development of Texas 121 and Texas 161, which could generate millions of extra private dollars for other road work, while municipal and county leaders have said they’d rather that the tollway authority build the roads – and keep tolls as low as possible.
The compromise allows the state to put Texas 121 in Collin County and Texas 161 in Dallas County up for bid, and let the private sector build them, but designates the tollway authority as the official toll collection agency on those roads for at least the first five years.
“It is workable,” tollway authority board member Jack Miller of Denton said Wednesday. “It requires us to work together, which I think we should be doing anyway.”
If approved by the tollway board, the policy will then be considered by the state transportation commission. The policy calls for the tollway authority to be the lead agency in planning future toll roads. In addition to toll road projects that are already widely known, other possible future projects include the extension of Texas 360 in Mansfield to the south, and the creation of an outer loop roughly following Farm Road 1187 in southern Tarrant County and the old Loop 9 plans in south Dallas.
The compromise
Details of the deal between the North Texas Tollway Authority and Texas Department of Transportation
Tollway authority remains responsible for building Southwest Parkway, the Lake Lewisville Bridge and President George Bush Turnpike eastern extension. The authority also remains the main planner of any future toll roads.
The state agency may accept bids from private firms to build Texas 121 in Collin County and Texas 161 in Grand Prairie. However, the tollway authority will be the toll collection agency on those roads for at least the first five years.
________________________________________
Gordon Dickson, 817-685-3816
gdickson@star-telegram.com
© 2006 Fort Worth Star-Telegram :
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Wednesday, August 09, 2006
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