“The state is getting very excited about all the RMAs but about us in particular."
Rusk County takes leadership role on mobility panel
8/10/06
By ALEXA DUKE
Henderson Daily News
Copyright 2006
Getting a highway or road project done in Texas these days can be a wait-and-see proposition - a long wait.
But counties around Texas have found a way to speed up the process by creating Regional Mobility Authorities (RMAs) to fight for funding for local projects.
Smith and Gregg counties came together in April 2005 to form the Northeast Texas RMA (NET RMA) and have been working to secure funding for highway projects that benefit both counties. Now Rusk, Cherokee, Harrison and Upshur counties have been accepted as members of NET RMA.
John Cloutier, chairman of the Henderson Area Chamber of Commerce's Legislative Affairs Committee, has been attending NET RMA meetings for the past eight months. He recently discussed the advantages of the RMA with the Henderson Daily News.
“It's a big step to be the first RMA to accept rural counties,” Cloutier said. “The state is getting very excited about all the RMAs but about us in particular - we're really the first region to use it in the mode the governor wanted to use it. It's giving rural and urban communities the chance to get what they want.”
The NET RMA's first big project, Loop 49 in Tyler, will celebrate a grand opening at 9 a.m. on Aug. 19 with a parade, a ribbon cutting, free food and activities for the whole family and the first sales of the TxTag, a sticker for the windshield which gives easy access to toll roads throughout Texas. It lets drivers pay tolls electronically from a prepaid account while traveling at highway speeds - there's no stopping at toll booths or searching for change. In addition, most toll roads throughout the state offer discounted rates when using a tag.
“The tags are usable in Houston and Dallas, almost anywhere in the state,” Cloutier said. “It's like a pre-paid phone card - you buy one for $20 and slap it on your car. When the tag runs out you can still go through, we'll just send you a bill. There are no toll breakers, only customers who need to be sent a bill.”
Cloutier said he is looking forward to the opening of the loop for business reasons, since his employees will be able to get to I-20 and on to his customers much quicker and more reliably.
“People don't know how they're going to use it yet,” he said. “They can take the other roads and go around still. We don't want people to feel they're being forced into a toll road, they're not.”
Toll roads are a new approach to funding transportation projects, Cloutier said.
“One road being tolled can get five more roads built,” he said. “If we can find the roads with the business and the traffic that's willing to pay a little extra to be on a quickly moving road, we may be able to break through the log jam and get some of the other roads we need regionally that may not be toll-viable.”
But RMAs are not just about toll roads, he said.
“We're about rail spurs and anything that has to do with transportation - airports, intermodal hubs - it's a kind of regional thought process that counties need to be participating in,” Cloutier said. “We have a huge airport in Rusk County - the third longest runway in East Texas. We have all sorts of resources here that make us a regional player. We've just never been in a position to do anything because it's always been controlled at the state level.”
Now that Rusk County has a seat at the larger table, the October meeting of the NET RMA will be held here. That will give the county time to select a board member to represent the area on the RMA board of directors. Nomination/application forms can be obtained from County Judge Sandra Hodges' office, Suite 104 in the Rusk County Courthouse, or the Regional Mobility Authority handbook can be found online at and are due back in Hodges' office by Aug. 14.
Staff writer Alexa Duke can be reached via email at county@hendersondailynews.com.
© 2006 Henderson Daily News : www.hendersondailynews.com
8/10/06
By ALEXA DUKE
Henderson Daily News
Copyright 2006
Getting a highway or road project done in Texas these days can be a wait-and-see proposition - a long wait.
But counties around Texas have found a way to speed up the process by creating Regional Mobility Authorities (RMAs) to fight for funding for local projects.
Smith and Gregg counties came together in April 2005 to form the Northeast Texas RMA (NET RMA) and have been working to secure funding for highway projects that benefit both counties. Now Rusk, Cherokee, Harrison and Upshur counties have been accepted as members of NET RMA.
John Cloutier, chairman of the Henderson Area Chamber of Commerce's Legislative Affairs Committee, has been attending NET RMA meetings for the past eight months. He recently discussed the advantages of the RMA with the Henderson Daily News.
“It's a big step to be the first RMA to accept rural counties,” Cloutier said. “The state is getting very excited about all the RMAs but about us in particular - we're really the first region to use it in the mode the governor wanted to use it. It's giving rural and urban communities the chance to get what they want.”
The NET RMA's first big project, Loop 49 in Tyler, will celebrate a grand opening at 9 a.m. on Aug. 19 with a parade, a ribbon cutting, free food and activities for the whole family and the first sales of the TxTag, a sticker for the windshield which gives easy access to toll roads throughout Texas. It lets drivers pay tolls electronically from a prepaid account while traveling at highway speeds - there's no stopping at toll booths or searching for change. In addition, most toll roads throughout the state offer discounted rates when using a tag.
“The tags are usable in Houston and Dallas, almost anywhere in the state,” Cloutier said. “It's like a pre-paid phone card - you buy one for $20 and slap it on your car. When the tag runs out you can still go through, we'll just send you a bill. There are no toll breakers, only customers who need to be sent a bill.”
Cloutier said he is looking forward to the opening of the loop for business reasons, since his employees will be able to get to I-20 and on to his customers much quicker and more reliably.
“People don't know how they're going to use it yet,” he said. “They can take the other roads and go around still. We don't want people to feel they're being forced into a toll road, they're not.”
Toll roads are a new approach to funding transportation projects, Cloutier said.
“One road being tolled can get five more roads built,” he said. “If we can find the roads with the business and the traffic that's willing to pay a little extra to be on a quickly moving road, we may be able to break through the log jam and get some of the other roads we need regionally that may not be toll-viable.”
But RMAs are not just about toll roads, he said.
“We're about rail spurs and anything that has to do with transportation - airports, intermodal hubs - it's a kind of regional thought process that counties need to be participating in,” Cloutier said. “We have a huge airport in Rusk County - the third longest runway in East Texas. We have all sorts of resources here that make us a regional player. We've just never been in a position to do anything because it's always been controlled at the state level.”
Now that Rusk County has a seat at the larger table, the October meeting of the NET RMA will be held here. That will give the county time to select a board member to represent the area on the RMA board of directors. Nomination/application forms can be obtained from County Judge Sandra Hodges' office, Suite 104 in the Rusk County Courthouse, or the Regional Mobility Authority handbook can be found online at and are due back in Hodges' office by Aug. 14.
Staff writer Alexa Duke can be reached via email at county@hendersondailynews.com.
© 2006 Henderson Daily News :
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Thursday, August 10, 2006
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