Strayhorn: "If cooler heads do not prevail, I will certainly use the governor’s pen."
Candidates give two cents worth on tolls
August 22,2006
Elizabeth Pierson
The Monitor
Copyright 2006
AUSTIN – Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn on Monday criticized Republican Gov. Rick Perry’s transportation plan that includes proposals for toll roads along the Interstate 35 corridor and possibly along routes leading to the Rio Grande Valley.
Spokesmen for two of Strayhorn’s opponents said her stance is a turnaround from about five years ago when she suggested using toll roads in some cases.
Perry’s campaign spokesman said Strayhorn has no plan to pay for the urgent road needs of Texas.
If elected Strayhorn would expand I-35 along its existing corridor without using tolls, increase the use of Texas ports, encourage telecommuting and expand the rail system along existing rights of way, she said.
The announcement at Strayhorn’s campaign headquarters came on the last day the Texas Department of Transportation accepted comments on its Trans-Texas Corridor 35, which is being built and run in part by Cintra, a private company based in Spain.
If elected, she will work with legislators to repeal the laws that allowed the project. She thinks "cooler heads will prevail" in the Legislature, she said.
"If cooler heads do not prevail, I will certainly use the governor’s pen," she said. "All of TxDOT’s funding is on the line."
Strayhorn argues there is plenty of money to move forward with big road projects without tolls. The state transportation budget for 2005-2006 is about $15.2 billion, a 24 percent increase over the previous biennium, said Brad McClellan, her campaign manager.
But that money has already been dedicated by the Legislature to help large cities reduce congestion, said Robert Black, campaign spokesman for Perry. A current expansion project on Interstate 10 near Houston will cost $3 billion alone, he said.
"We are using every bit of existing funds we can, but there’s too many projects on the books that this state needs to build that we don’t have the money for," Black said. "All she’s proposing is moving money around that we’re already using. Where are the new funds coming from?"
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell thinks Strayhorn is hypocritical about the toll roads because she once proposed using them in a report, said Bell’s spokesman Jason Stanford. But he agrees with Strayhorn that existing roads should not be tolled.
"There are so many ways in which Rick Perry is wrong, but in this he is so aggressively wrong," Stanford said. "He’s talking about taking half a million acres in Texas and giving it to some conquistadors."
The battle between landowners and the state along I-35 could foreshadow a possible fight to come in the Valley. The state is determining which of three routes will become the southern end of Trans-Texas Corridor 69.
TxDOT is proposing one or more of three routes to make an interstate: U.S. Highway 77, U.S. Highway 281 or a new route through farmland about 20 miles west of U.S. 281.
Strayhorn would endorse a new highway to the Valley only as a last resort, but prefers expanding an existing highway, McClellan said.
Perry thinks the TxDOT public comment and environmental study process will identify the best route for TTC-69, Black said.
Also running for governor are independent candidate Kinky Friedman and Libertarian James Werner.
© 2006 The Monitor and Freedom Interactive Newspapers of Texas, Inc.:www.themonitor.com
August 22,2006
Elizabeth Pierson
The Monitor
Copyright 2006
AUSTIN – Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn on Monday criticized Republican Gov. Rick Perry’s transportation plan that includes proposals for toll roads along the Interstate 35 corridor and possibly along routes leading to the Rio Grande Valley.
Spokesmen for two of Strayhorn’s opponents said her stance is a turnaround from about five years ago when she suggested using toll roads in some cases.
Perry’s campaign spokesman said Strayhorn has no plan to pay for the urgent road needs of Texas.
If elected Strayhorn would expand I-35 along its existing corridor without using tolls, increase the use of Texas ports, encourage telecommuting and expand the rail system along existing rights of way, she said.
The announcement at Strayhorn’s campaign headquarters came on the last day the Texas Department of Transportation accepted comments on its Trans-Texas Corridor 35, which is being built and run in part by Cintra, a private company based in Spain.
If elected, she will work with legislators to repeal the laws that allowed the project. She thinks "cooler heads will prevail" in the Legislature, she said.
"If cooler heads do not prevail, I will certainly use the governor’s pen," she said. "All of TxDOT’s funding is on the line."
Strayhorn argues there is plenty of money to move forward with big road projects without tolls. The state transportation budget for 2005-2006 is about $15.2 billion, a 24 percent increase over the previous biennium, said Brad McClellan, her campaign manager.
But that money has already been dedicated by the Legislature to help large cities reduce congestion, said Robert Black, campaign spokesman for Perry. A current expansion project on Interstate 10 near Houston will cost $3 billion alone, he said.
"We are using every bit of existing funds we can, but there’s too many projects on the books that this state needs to build that we don’t have the money for," Black said. "All she’s proposing is moving money around that we’re already using. Where are the new funds coming from?"
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell thinks Strayhorn is hypocritical about the toll roads because she once proposed using them in a report, said Bell’s spokesman Jason Stanford. But he agrees with Strayhorn that existing roads should not be tolled.
"There are so many ways in which Rick Perry is wrong, but in this he is so aggressively wrong," Stanford said. "He’s talking about taking half a million acres in Texas and giving it to some conquistadors."
The battle between landowners and the state along I-35 could foreshadow a possible fight to come in the Valley. The state is determining which of three routes will become the southern end of Trans-Texas Corridor 69.
TxDOT is proposing one or more of three routes to make an interstate: U.S. Highway 77, U.S. Highway 281 or a new route through farmland about 20 miles west of U.S. 281.
Strayhorn would endorse a new highway to the Valley only as a last resort, but prefers expanding an existing highway, McClellan said.
Perry thinks the TxDOT public comment and environmental study process will identify the best route for TTC-69, Black said.
Also running for governor are independent candidate Kinky Friedman and Libertarian James Werner.
© 2006 The Monitor and Freedom Interactive Newspapers of Texas, Inc.:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Tuesday, August 22, 2006
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