The Collin County Observer

Stakes high as cities debate proposed tollway routes

by STEVE STOLER / WFAA-TV
Posted on March 9, 2010 at 9:56 PM
Updated March 9 at 10:38 PM

PILOT POINT — The Dallas North Tollway is expanding far north.

Right now, there are three proposed routes, and the stakes are high. The chosen path will bring with it millions of dollars in tax revenue and economic development.

The Mayor of Celina, Jim Lewis, put it this way:

“The decision on where the Tollway will go is about money — who gets it and who pays it,” said Mayor Jim Lewis of Celina.

Three hundred people converged on the community room of a Pilot Point bank Tuesday to take a look for themselves.

The Green Alignment veers west-northwest toward Pilot Point and meets up with U.S. Highway 377. Cindy Schindler says its the best route for rural Denton County.

“They have no direct route to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex areas, no matter where they work," she said. "They have a long, winding way to get there. This route would benefit them, save fuel and save time."

The Yellow/Red Alignment veers west and then heads due north up the Collin/Denton county line. Pilot Point leaders say this route would share the wealth and cost between both counties. They believe it can be built the fastest.

“It’s just a lot better route. It's a straighter route," said Pilot Point City Manager J.C. Hughes.

But Celina leaders want the Tollway to run through their town in Collin County on the Orange/Red Alignment. They claim it's the shortest route to Grayson County, which means less road to build and big savings.

“And what that means is that's $40 to $45 million less in tolls that will have to be charged to make up the funding," said Celina City Manager Jason Gray.

The cities are competing for big benefits. The Tollway extension is expected to generate $50 million in tax revenue every year.

The NTTA board is scheduled to approve a route in July.

Related:

* Detailed map of proposed Dallas North Tollway expansion options (pdf)
* Dallas North Tollway expansion information Web site

read and watch video report at WFAA....

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The Observer comments:

You want to know why there is a Collin County Toll Road Authority?

Look at the DNT extension map, that's why.

The CCTRA was formed out of fears that this extension of the DNT would bypass much of Collin County. for years, there was an agreement between Collin and Denton counties that the future tollroad extension would be along the county line. This is the yellow route on the map.

Hearing that other routes were under consideration that would move the alignment into Denton County, the Collin County Commissioners panicked and after repudiating the agreement with Denton, formed the CCTRA and tried to take the right of way from NTTA.

Unfortunately for our commissioners, the North Texas Tollway Authority has lots of friends in the Texas Legislature. Collin County was forced to back off and promise not to interfere with the DNT extension in return for being allowed to pursue their work on financing the Outer Loop.

At one point, the NTTA floated the compromise idea of the "Y", basically creating two roads one east and one west. At the time, The Observer predicted that the "Y" option was not realistic.

We notice that it didn't even appear in the map used in yesterday's NTTA presentation. Instead there are 3 possible routes, one largely in Collin County and two in Denton County. The original negotiated route along the county line appears to no longer be on the table.

At stake is billions in future long-term economic development.

Because of its 'snatch and grab' attempt, Collin County finds itself at the disadvantage.

Neither NTTA nor Denton County has any moral imperative now to play fair. If they do, you can bet they'll make our commissioners squirm first.

The Collin County Commissioners Court often rails against "regionalism" as if it were some kind of communist plot. Right now they are letting Celina fight alone for the Collin County route.

It will be interesting to watch the commissioners court now that they have no choice but to seek a regional approach.

Bill