In response to various articles on toll projects in Austin:TX

 

 

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is an agency in which decisions by the few rule the many.

The State agency let's foreign companies purchase 50-year contracts to build and maintain toll roadways and Texans now have a lost, runaway agency.

Toll roads are a last resort, not a first option.  They encourage long-term debt.  And usually property values decline in the adjacent areas.

A case in point why toll roads are not the solution to every problem:  Hwy 130 was built without study or awareness of who would use it.  The 85 mph speed  was the carrot dangling above our heads, but it didn't work.  Very few cars and trucks are using the tollway and it is hurting the state.  Taxpayers are reeling from that poor decision and are losing millions of tax dollars.

.

Currently, TxDOT is building 2 toll lanes on MoPac… another poor idea.  Instead of widening the entire roadway to facilitate more cars and thereby easing traffic congestion, TxDOT's 2-lane dysfunctional approach adds significant long-term costs and won’t relieve traffic.

TxDOT and toll road enthusiasts are stuck in a desert of decision-making.  They seem to see only quick dollars, but it’s merely a mirage.  We need intelligent decisions to fix traffic congestion, not toll roads!