The Collin County Observer

Editorial: Tollway agency works to restore confidence

Friday, July 23, 2010
The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board

The North Texas Tollway Authority made the right decision by ignoring high-dollar bait dangled its way to choose a Collin County route for a future stretch of the Dallas North Tollway.

Property owners near the new roadway will make a bundle after it's built, and the city of Celina wanted the super-heated development inside its boundaries. No problem with that. Celina made the novel pledge that NTTA could have the future bounty of the higher property taxes. No problem with creative thinking, except for where it might lead.

Had the NTTA jumped at the money, it might have opened the door to an era of transportation planning by municipal bidding war. Those kinds of cash inducements may be in our future someday as road money dries up, but the rules aren't in place nor the consequences fully thought out yet.

The bigger problem with the proposed Celina route was that it would have further insulted a one-time compact made between Collin and Denton counties to run the future road segment up their common border. The deal was reached in 2005, but Collin County reneged three years later in a snit about dividing toll revenue. Collin County formed its own, rival tollway authority and vowed not to let money get away.

The decisive 7-1 vote by NTTA to honor the county-line route is a statement about regionalism. Just as the region's major highways serve a wide swath of commuters and travelers, the benefits should be measured out fairly as well...

read the rest of this editorial at The Dallas Morning News.....

---------------------------------------------------------

The Observer comments:

The Dallas Morning News' Trailblazers Blog has a post, "Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley was honored as County Leader of the Year by Penton's American City and County magazine. He was presented the distinction at the National Association of Counties annual conference in Reno, Nevada."

The post goes on to say that, "Whitley was praised for building consensus on transportation projects and other North Texas issues in a cover story for the magazine's July 2010 issue."

Trailblazers quotes from the magazine article, "Whitley's ability to bring together diverse groups to resolve issues is the hallmark of his leadership style, sorting out the issues, listening to all points of view, yet insisting, in the end, that a solution must be identified and rallied around".

I don't think that Collin County Judge Keith Self was in the running for an award for regionalism.

That's too bad.

Bill

The NTTA Board of Directors voted today to approve the alignment of the future Phase 4B and Phase 5 segments of the Dallas North Tollway on the original agreed route along the Denton/Collin County line. The decision was a defeat for Keith Self and the City of Celina,

NTTA approved the middle (yellow - red route) Click image for larger map.

Both Self and Celina had lobbied the NTTA Board and the Regional Transportation Council for the eastern alignment through Celina. In the end however only one NTTA board member, Bill Moore, a recent Collin County appointee, voted for the eastern alignment.

Most on the RTC and the NTTA see the vote as a victory for the region and for a regional approach to meeting the area's transportation needs. Self and the Collin County Commissioners Court are increasing being seen as provincial mavericks - unwilling to compromise for the sake of the entire region.

The tale started back in 2005 when Both Denton and Collin counties agreed to a county line alignment for the future tollway extension. In 2008, Collin County rescinded their agreement - partly in frustration over the allocation of the SH 121 revenue sharing scheme and partially to gain the anticipated tax base that would occur on both sides of the new toll road.

Collin County commissioners then formed the Collin County Toll Road Authority, partially in an attempt to take over the planning and construction of the future extension of the DNT.

The NTTA and its Chairman (Collin County's own Paul Wageman) strenuously objected to what they characterized as a hi-jacking of NTTA property.

The NTTA scared the heck out of the commissioners court when it became apparent that NTTA had powerful friends and influence in the Texas Legislature, especially in the Senate Transportation Committee. The Chairman of the Senate Committee warned Collin County's Keith Self that, "I don't think Collin County plays nice lately. I don't think they have a regional concern, but only for provincial Collin County"., "Bad things happen if you don't play nice". Faced with the legislative threat to remove all authority from the Collin County Toll Road Authority, the commissioners court backed down and conceded the DNT extension to the NTTA.

As recently as this March Senator Carona warned that, "Once again, Collin County elected officials are thumbing their noses at regionalism as they futilely attempt to seize control of the latest Dallas Tollway extension. It's a short-sighted move surely to incur the wrath of most North Texas leaders. Judge Self has been cautioned previously against this type of predatory behavior and appears eager for yet another bruising by his neighbors."

But a couple of weeks ago, Keith Self ratcheted up the rhetoric again with an email he posted on his blog. In his email, Self brought up the old complaints about the RTC's allocation of SH 121 tolls. Most experts in the region and members of the RTC saw Self's email as being loaded with half-truths and misrepresentations.

No one I talked to ever believed the NTTA board would approve the eastern alignment. Rather, the question today was whether the NTTA board would take revenge on Collin County and Self by moving the DNT extension completely out of Collin County.

Thankfully, the NTTA board did the right thing. They took the regional approach and approved the long standing agreed upon alignment along the county line.

Judge Self could learn from their example.

The Phase 4B and 5 extensions are many years away from being completed. Current guesses range from 10 to 20 years before construction will begin.

Meanwhile, the political landscape for transportation and especially the NTTA is about to change. Chairman Paul Wageman will retire at the end of the year, and the Collin County Commissioners will be appointing his replacement.

Also John Carona, last sessions' mercurial chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, will no longer be on the Committee. Press reports say that he was frustrated at the lack of will by the State Legislature to raise the money needed to address the mobility needs of the State.

Bill

=====================================

NTTA rejects Collin bid to move future DNT to the east

Michael Lindenberger / The Dallas Morning News Transportation Blog

The North Texas Tollway Authority rejected a bid by Collin County and Celina city leaders to move the northernmost future segments of the Dallas North Tollway to the east, and entirely within Collin County.

The board voted 7-1 this morning to formally endorse a route that will run the DNT along a path that will essentially track the county line between Collin and Denton counties. Chairman Paul Wageman, a Collin County appointee, did not vote, explaining that his law firm represents a property owner along another segment of the DNT. Board member Bill Moore of Collin County voted against.

That route had been endorsed by both counties in 2005, but Collin County changed its mind in 2008, in part because of frustration over how the Regional Transportation Council voted to split up the $3.2 billion advance payment the NTTA made to win the SH 121 toll contract. Collin County Judge Keith Self has said Collin County should have received larger portion of the payment.

The Collin County plan was novel in that it included a proposal by the tiny city of Celina, whose leaders promised that it would give NTTA every penny of property taxes it received as a result of the DNT -- an offer it said would be worth well over $220 million over the first 40 years after the road is built.

Celina city manager Jason Gray said The proposal could be a model for how cities across North Texas could use property taxes to help offset NTTA's costs. The real value of that promise however was questioned by some board members, who noted that the prospect of money decades into the future would mean little to lenders who would finance the nearly $1 billion the DNT is expected to cost.

No matter where the road is built, construction isn't expected to begin for at least a decade and perhaps in the words of one top NTTA official a generation.

Denton County Judge Mary Horn said the county line route represented a compromise that deserved to be supported. The county also noted it had secured agreements with property owners to donate 95 percent of the right of way needed for the county line route.

In addition, Denton County voters have already agreed to use $20 million to help NTTA build footage roads, and another $1.5 million for design -- dollars available now.

link to this article at The Dallas Morning News Transportation Blog....

===============================================

Horn: Toll route good
Road extension to follow line between counties

Thursday, July 22, 2010
By BJ Lewis / The Denton Record-Chronicle

Denton County leaders said Wednesday the region won when the North Texas Tollway Authority chose to extend the Dallas North Tollway along the Denton-Collin county line rather than entirely in Collin County.

“This is a good regional solution — good for Denton and Collin County, Pilot Point and Celina,” said Denton County Judge Mary Horn. “Perhaps at this time Collin County isn’t looking at it like that, but I hope they will. We have worked well in the past and hope we will in the future.”

Construction on the extension isn’t expected to begin for at least a decade.

Both counties had endorsed the route along the county line in 2005, but Collin County officials changed their minds in 2008, in part because of frustration over how the Regional Transportation Council voted to split up the $3.2 billion advance payment the tollway authority made to win the State Highway 121 toll contract.

Collin County Judge Keith Self has said Collin County should have received a larger portion of the payment.

The Collin County plan included a proposal by Celina, whose leaders promised that it would give the tollway authority every penny of property taxes it received as a result of the Dallas North Tollway — an offer it said would be worth more than $220 million over the first 40 years after the road is built.

Horn and some board members questioned the real value of that promise.

Denton County voters have agreed to use $20 million to help the tollway authority build frontage roads, and another $1.5 million for design — dollars available now.

“It’s very speculative, whereas Denton County, upon the advice of our transportation consultant, had the foresight to put $20 million in our bond election to do the frontage roads,” Horn said after the meeting. “A million and a half that we got for the design phase, … that’s money that is available today; that’s not speculative.”

Another issue was the flood plain in the northern part of both counties. Taking the eastern route would mean five more bridges, Horn said. The county line route would require only two.

Commissioner Hugh Coleman said the tollway authority made a good decision in selecting the county line route.

“The tolls are paid for on those roads by everyone in the region,” he said. “Having it along the county line benefits both counties.”

Coleman said his lingering concern is that a good portion of the toll road would run through special taxing districts that were set up for future development.

“In those districts, we need to solve the problem of providing police and fire [service],” he said. “We’re going to work with Pilot Point on a remedy.”

Coleman said the tollway authority took a well-reasoned approach that gave all parties an opportunity to speak.

“Overall, the best decision was to have it on the county line,” he said.

Michael Lindenberger of The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report.

link to this article at The Denton Record-Chronicle....

Ever since I wrote an article disclosing that tens of thousands of Collin County arrest warrants were the result of the NTTA prosecuting toll dodgers, I have received dozens of letters from citizens who have written of their own stories of bungled accounts, high handed customer service, perfidy and worse at the hands of the North Texas Tollway Authority.

Of course, the NTTA has its side of the story too. They are a huge operation, processing over 40 million toll transactions and collecting more than $33 million in toll revenue every month.

Responding to citizen criticism, the NTTA started an ombudsman program to "ensure consistency and fairness" in the NTTA collection process. I'm about to find out how well it works. I'm trying to be open minded, but the NTTA's website offers scant encouragement. It gives several examples of how the ombudsman helped customers "solve" their complaints - in every single NTTA example, the tollway authority was found to be 100% right, and the customer 100% wrong. Some ombudsman, eh?

I guess I'll find out.

Last week I received an invoice from NTTA. It was on pink paper, and was marked "past due". Now I was surprised to get this invoice as I have a TollTag, and I know it stays funded.

The bill was for 7 transactions totaling $12.12 dating from September of 2009 to April 3 of this year. It included a $2.50 late fee, and a threat that if not paid by May 27 that the late fee would increase to $187.12.

I went to the NTTA's website and did some investigation. While I couldn't research the oldest charges (they were no longer online), I could take a look at the latest. What I found was that while driving on the George Bush tollway, I was charged for non-payment during a trip where the tolltag registered charges both before and after these transactions. In other words, during a single trip, MOST of the toll gantries worked and one didn't.

For example:
On April 1, I passed a plaza at 17:47 (5:47 PM) - and was charged the cash rate and billed $1.86. However 8 minutes later, I passed another plaza and this time the tolltag clicked off $1.35

On April 2, I passed a plaza at 17:21 and the tolltag clicked off $1.24, but at 17:29, the tolltag didn't work, and I was billed another $1.86.

And On April 3, at 18:59 the tolltag worked, clicking off $.52, at 19:04 it clicked off another $1.08, and at 19:09 yet another $.34. Yet I received a bill for a $1.62 charge incurred (according to the NTTA) at 19:04! The supposedly fool proof system charged me twice for the same transaction. Either that, or I somehow managed to go through the Coit Rd. Plaza twice in the same minute.

So, on May 15, using the email tool on my tolltag account site, I wrote to customer service:

Plate # xxx-xxxx. I do not transmit my DL# by email. (You shouldn't ask for it as email is insecure.)

I have a working toll tag, but have received an invoice from you #9xxxxx on your acct #3xxxx.

It lists 7 charges from Sept 09 to Apr 10. I have researched online and can track the 4 of those charges made in 2010 (your system will not let me go back any further).

EVERY one of those charges were made during a trip where the toll tag correctly charged me as I passed the gantries. It seems that on each trip, one of your detectors was not working properly, and so you sent me a bill.

However, you are charging me at the higher ZipCash rate. And you have the temerity to demand a late fee -- all because YOUR system malfunctioned. Please re-bill me, or better yet, debit my account at the correct rate for a Toll Tag user.

You can contact me at this email address, or by phone at 214-xxx-xxxx.

Bill Baumbach

I sent the email 5 days ago. So far I have not received a response from NTTA. Yet the D-Day for the $187.12 penalty is now only 7 days from now.

According to the NTTA website, in March, the NTTA Board approved a new customer service policy:
• Reducing the $25 administrative fee on the violation invoice by 67 percent to $8.33 per transaction if the invoice is paid before the invoice is sent to the collection agency
• Allowing all transactions on the NTTA System to be processed through the ZipCash process, providing motorists another opportunity to pay their tolls without any additional fines
• Creating an ombudsman program to ensure consistency and fairness in the NTTA collection process
• Redesigning invoices to communicate the benefit of prompt payment as well as consequences if the request for payment is ignored
• Streamlining the process used to gather forwarded addresses by communicating directly with the National Change of Address Database.

I have some questions for the new ombudsman --

1. If the new policy says the penalty (administrative fee) is now $8.33 per transaction, why are you threatening me with a $25 fee per transaction?

2. Why are you charging me a $12.12 late fee, when this is the first bill I've seen from you?

3. Why are you charging me the higher cash rate for transactions that should be charged at tolltag rates?

4. Why are you billing me at all? Why not simply debit my tolltag account and send me a receipt?

5. How do you explain how your fool-proof system manages to charge me twice for the same transaction - once through the tolltag, and once as a cash charge?

6. Why do you not respond to your emails?

I anxiously await their reply.

Bill

Planned Fort Worth-McKinney rail line to seek private partner

Thursday, May 13, 2010
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News

The Regional Transportation Council took the first step Thursday toward a new model in North Texas for how commuter rail could be financed and built.

The 43-member council voted unanimously to give itself the lead role in finding private firms to partner with local transit agencies to build – and pay for – what could be a 62-mile long Cotton Belt commuter rail line from Fort Worth to McKinney?.

Such a public-private partnership for rail would be the first in Texas, and one of the very few in America.

RTC leaders said Thursday they want to fashion a unique kind of partnership that would involve private companies covering the upfront cost of building the $1 billion rail line and expenses related to maintenance and operations for its first decade or more.

In return, the transit agencies in Dallas and Fort Worth would probably need to agree to make annual payments to the firms large enough to cover the companies' debt service and expenses – plus a profit.

To do so, the RTC will probably need creative ways to find that revenue – which could be $100 million a year or more – because the transit agencies will not have any sales tax revenue to contribute.

Typically, it is sales-tax revenue to which firms look to guarantee their negotiated payments. But the chairman of Dallas Area Rapid Transit has said it will not pledge any of the sales taxes paid by its 13 member cities toward the Cotton Belt.

"We agree that a traditional public-private partnership may not work," RTC spokeswoman Amanda Wilson said. "We have been in that position for over a year. That is why we are not pursuing a traditional model, but an initiative on innovative finance."

One idea floated by transportation director Michael Morris has been to try to lure a plant to North Texas to manufacture a new kind of rail car under design by DART.

The eastern half of the Cotton Belt has long been on DART's wish list of projects, but the agency didn't expect to have any money to spend on it until 2028, and more recent financial problems probably mean it would be years beyond that.

In addition, the Fort Worth transit agency, The T, is developing a plan to build the western half of the line by 2013 using traditional tax dollars. But that plan is wholly dependent upon uncertain approval of a major federal grant that would pay for it.

Any deal negotiated by RTC will have to be approved by the transit agencies' boards of directors, and would not transfer ownership of the rail lines to a private firm.

link to this article at the Dallas Morning News.....

On today's Commissioner's Court agenda are two items that will extend engineering contracts to allow for work on their next phase.

The first contract request will amend a previously awarded a $107,219 contract to Dannenbaum Engineering for preliminary right of way studies for FM 455 (east of US 75) in Anna. The county's engineer, Ruben Delgado submitted a request to amend the contract adding an additional $1,010,792 to fund completion of plan specifications and right of way mapping.

The second contract is with Berkhoff, Hendricks and Carter, LLP for construction of the widening and relocation of Parker Rd. (FM 2514) from Murphy Rd. (FM 2551) to just past County Club Rd. (FM 1378) in Parker. The original contract amount was $174,700. The amendment is for $403,200 and will include surveys, a public meeting, preparation of a right of way map and an environmental assessment.

This is the second time Mr. Delgado has submitted these requests. Last month Judge Self and Commissioner Shaheen questioned the contract amendment. Self believed that extending a contract by adding 1000% to its cost should cause the county to look at re-evaluating the vendors and possibly resubmitting both projects to the engineering vendor selection process.

After discussion, both items were tabled to allow the county's engineering staff to review the cost of the proposals with the vendors.

Both Self and Shaheen have been very critical of state laws that prohibit a county form seeking competitive bidding on engineering contracts. Because of the state regulations, the county must first choose an engineering firm and only then negotiate costs.

In resubmitting these contract amendments, Delgado noted that negotiations with Berkhoff, Hendricks and Carter have led to a reduction of only $8,600 -- out of over $1 million in cost. In the contract with Dannenbaum, Delgado's request is actually $60,000 larger than it was last month.

Given recent reductions seen in construction costs and current budget pressure, it will be interesting to see the court's reaction to these submissions.

Bill

For many election day watchers, one of the more interesting contests turned out to be the County Commissioners, Precinct 2 race.

Challenger and former Plano City Councilwoman Cheryl Williams out-polled 29 yr incumbent Jerry Hoagland by 9 percentage points. However, her 45.8% was not enough to avoid a run-off with Commissioner Hoagland.

The Collin County Observer visited with both Cheryl Williams and Jerry Hoagland this weekend. Both graciously allowed me into their home to record a series of interviews. I hope you find them interesting and helpful.

In the first segment, we talk about roads and mobility:

Bill

TxDOT has scheduled two public hearings in Collin County this week:

FM 455 in Anna

TxDOT in cooperation with Collin County and The City of Anna will host an open house and public hearing for the proposed improvements to Farm-to-Market (FM) 455. The hearing will be on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at the City of Anna, City Hall Administration Building, City Council Chambers, 111 North Powell Parkway, Anna, Texas, 75409.

Prior to the public hearing, an open house will be from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. to allow for questions and review of project exhibits. TxDOT? strongly values the public’s involvement and invites all interested persons to attend the open house to discuss the social, economic, and environmental affects of the proposed improvements to FM 455.

The proposed project is needed to adequately address the expected increase in traffic along FM 455 within the City of Anna. The 6.5 mile improvement project extends from the U.S. Highway (US) 75 northbound frontage road to State Highway (SH) 121, in Collin County. The proposed plans widen FM 455 from a two-lane undivided roadway to a divided four-lane roadway with an ultimate six-lane configuration. This project’s improvements are designed to reduce congestion and improve mobility.

FM 546 in McKinney

TxDOT in cooperation with Collin County and and the City of McKinney will host an open house and public hearing for the proposed improvements to Farm-to-Market (FM) 546. The hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at the McKinney City Hall - City Council Chambers, 222 N. Tennessee Street, McKinney, TX 75069.

Prior to the public hearing, an open house will be from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. to allow for questions and review of project exhibits. TxDOT? strongly values the public’s involvement and invites all interested persons to attend the open house to discuss the social, economic and environmental affects of the proposed improvements to FM 546.

The proposed project is needed to address uncontrolled access and conflicting left-turn movements on the roadway. The proposed improvement project extends from State Highway (SH) 5 to Airport Road in Collin County. The proposed project would reconstruct the existing six-lane roadway and bidirectional continuous left-turn lane to a four-lane roadway with dedicated left-turn lanes. This project’s improvements are designed to better control access and create safer conditions for motorists traveling along this roadway.

Bill

Dueling gets serious between 2 tollway authorities

March 23, 2010
Rodger Jones / Editorial Writer
The Dallas Morning News / Transportation Blog

We see at Bill Baumbach's Collin County Observer site that the competition is heating up between the North Texas Tollway Authority and the upstart Collin County Tollway Authority.

The NTTA already held hearings twice this month on the future extension of the Dallas North Tollway into northern Collin County. So yesterday, members of the county's commissioner's court -- who double as members of their own tollway authority -- voted unanimously to hold their own hearings on the future of the DNT.

County Judge Keith Self has been pushing this real hard from the beginning, drawing the anger of Sen. John Carona, chairman of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee. Carona has been trying to ensure a regional approach to planning and funding of major roadways, and Self has gotten himself in hot water before with the senator. This latest decision for the duplicate public meetings is no different. Carona sent me the following statement this afternoon:

"Once again, Collin County elected officials are thumbing their noses at regionalism as they futilely attempt to seize control of the latest Dallas Tollway extension. It's a short-sighted move surely to incur the wrath of most North Texas leaders. Judge Self has been cautioned previously against this type of predatory behavior and appears eager for yet another bruising by his neighbors."

I talked this over with Commissioner Joe Jaynes, who is key in this debate. He is also a member of the policy-making Regional Transportation Commission and has a good handle on North Texas' planning and financial challenges for large road projects.

Jaynes does not apologize for the vote by county commissioners, doubling as the upstart local toll authority. He said the NTTA is financially strapped from taking on so many different projects in recent years, most recently the SH 161 roadway and, probably, the Southwest Parkway-Chisolm Trail in Tarrant and Parker counties.

NTTA, he says, cannot offer a firm timetable for developing a new alignment for the DNT north of Celina or even for laying down main lanes where the alignment is already set between US 380 and Celina. Until the county gets some kind of assurances from the NTTA, commissioners have a responsibility to push the projects through their own toll authority.

He said since funding for major transportation projects sometimes appears suddenly -- think of the infusion of $250m in stimulus money and how it helped out the D/FW Connector -- the new tollway segments need to be as ready as possible.

"We need all the tools we can get," Jaynes said, echoing the thoughts of Dallas County Commissioner Maurine Dickey, who supports a separate Dallas County tolling agency.

Jaynes said he backs the concept of "primacy," meaning that NTTA should be the default, go-to tolling agency for the region.

"NTTA should have primacy -- but within reason," Jaynes said. "We should have guidelines in place" on timetables that make sense, he said.

Who should set those rules? "The state, or the region," Jaynes said.

As for the idea that the dueling, duplicative public meetings will be awfully and needlessly confusing to the public, Jaynes did not dispute that.

"We may hear that NTTA is on the right track," he said. But the real test is when and whether that agency will commit to spend the money for engineering and construction.

As for Sen. Carona's anger at the duplication, Jaynes said, "I don't know Sen. Carona that well, and I doubt he'd be able to pick me out of a crowd." He said Carona is acknowledged as a leader in transportation, "and I'd like to develop a good working relationship with him."

Update from Sherita Coffelt, spokeswoman for NTTA, on the Collin County toll authority's vote:

"This could be confusing to the citizens, in a situation where the NTTA is conducting a parallel process. Someone might go to a Collin County public meeting and think that they're going to an NTTA public meeting. .... If they provided a comment, it wouldn't be taken into account as part of our planning process."

I asked about the notion that Collin County could push its planning entirely on a parallel track and disregard the NTTA's work. Coffelt said, "That's just not in the public interest. You'd be doing a disservice."

And about the complaint that the NTTA is not advancing the roadway quickly enough, she said, "We have been advancing the roadway, as evidenced by the fact that we have been holding public meetings."

And what about the complaint that the NTTA can't afford to do the work now? The road would not attract the traffic needed to finance construction at present, she said.

"The road is not feasible right now," she said. "The road doesn't get more feasible based on the agency that's building it."

And the time frame? "There's not a firm time frame. I've heard rough estimates between five and 10 years. ... We know the growth will be there in the future."

Link to this post on the Dallas Morning News' Transportation Blog....

"I think that our vision of them [NTTA] being unable to do anything with this road for a long time is probably coming to pass."
County Judge Keith Self

"Lets do it!"
Commissioner Jerry Hoagland

"Bad things happen if you don't play nice"
Senator John Carona

The Collin County commissioners, meeting as the Collin County Toll Road Authority yesterday, voted 5-0 to hold a public hearing on alternative right of ways for Phase IV B of the Dallas North Tollway extension.

They dusted off a resolution passed in January, where they asserted a claim to the NTTA project, and used it to claim their right to assume authority over the IV B extension.

Keith Self told the commissioners:

"I asked to put on (the discussion on the toll road) because NTTA changed their discussion of the Phase IV B recently to include only three routes; one that went into Denton county, one that crosses the Denton County line, and one in Collin County...

"In January 12 of 2009, we assumed RMA (regional mobility authority) authority over the IV B project. NTTA is, obviously, extremely indebted at this point, and I think that our vision of them being unable to do anything with this road for a long time is probably coming to pass.

"It looks to me like we need to be holding our own alignment public hearings along these three or four alignments to see what we would choose in the future as a CTA (county toll road authority), should we decide to build the road under the CTA authority."

Latest NTTA proposed routes

The commissioners took this action after looking at NTTA's proposed alignments. Of the three routes that NTTA presented at a public hearing last week, one was in Denton County, one was on the county line, and one was in Collin County.

At stake are hundreds of millions of dollars in future development that will border the toll road.

It was back in January of 2009 that the County Toll Road Authority met for the first time and approved the resolution taking over the NTTA's project to extend the Dallas North Tollway from FM 426 north of Celina to the Grayson County line.

The NTTA was not amused. Neither was the Senate Transportation Committee and its powerful chairman, Senator John Carona (R-Richardson).

Collin County commissioners soon found out that the NTTA had powerful friends.

Testifying before the commissioners court Paul Wageman, the chairman of the NTTA Board warned the court that the legislature could grant NTTA control over all tolled projects in the region, and that included the commissioner's cherished project -- the Outer Loop. In fact a bill was filed in the last session that would have done exactly that.

Wageman told the Senate Committee the same thing. In testimony before the committee, Wageman said:

"Judge Self and the commissioners have had on their agendas, at least twice over the last few months, essentially court orders to issue contracts on elements of our system that are either owned entirely by the NTTA or under contractual arrangements."

Carona reacted by saying:

"I'd like to see everyone play nice, but I don't think Collin County has been lately. And Judge Self, bad things happen when you don't play nice. (I'd like to work with you on this) ... but we are going to have to have a different kind of relationship for that to happen. I don't feel like we have a relationship with you for a number of reasons, and frankly I think that is driven by you, not us."

Carona summed up the situation well when he told Keith Self, "Bad things happen if you don't play nice".

The legislation was dropped after Senator Shapiro helped broker a deal. The county promised to give up its claim on the Dallas North Tollway, and the Senators allowed the county's Toll Road Authority to continue trying to develop its Outer Loop.

But yesterday, the county commissioners reneged on the deal.

Older 4 route plan

This is the second time the county has gone back on an agreement involving the tollway extension. They originally had a deal with Denton County where both counties agreed that the DNT extension would be along the county line. Collin County formally rescinded that compact six months before forming their own Toll Road Authority.

Both actions were taken after the commissioners court began to fear that the county could lose miles of the road to Denton. Along with those miles would be the miles of development that would follow any extension of the tollway. The commissioners want the whole extension in Collin County, eschewing even the county line alignment as half a loaf.

Will they get away with their hijacking?

It was only last week, when Senator Carona's blog contained the following in a discussion on a possible Dallas County Toll Authority:

"Senator Carona has always been a strong supporter of regional transportation solutions and fewer infrastructure agencies instead of more, and throughout the 81st legislation session worked to ensure the cohesiveness of future transportation plans in the region."

"The compromise language between the Collin County Toll Authority and the North Texas Tollway Authority was ultimately removed from legislation. As a result, Senator Carona is observing how the relationship progresses over the interim, and depending on that outcome, may proceed with appropriate legislation in the 82nd session."

(Note to the Collin County Commissioners -- That was a threat.)

The stage is now set for some high stakes gamesmanship, as the NTTA, Collin, Denton and the State haggle over the ownership and future path of the tollway extension.

Collin County is often accused of not being a team player. Their protectionism and publicly stated disdain for regional cooperation may have made the county some powerful foes, and made it all the harder for the county to get a fair shake in regional projects, such as the Dallas North Tollway.

The last time this battle was fought, the commissioners brought a knife to a gunfight. This challenge could be just the first shot in gaining negotiating room, but it could result in the county losing control of both the tollway and the Outer Loop.

At stake is the gain or loss of millions of dollars in future tax revenue.

Bill

Hundreds of Celina area residents let NTTA know preferred route for tollway extension


Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Penny Rathbun / Celina Record

More than 400 Celina, Denton and Collin County residents kept NTTA officials busy at a meeting last week held to give information on the proposed routes for the extension of the Dallas North Tollway.

“As the mayor, I am thrilled that so many people responded and came out to the informational meeting,” Celina Mayor Jim Lewis said.

Of the three routes the North Texas Tollway Authority is proposing, he favors the route known as the Orange/Red Alignment.

“It's $60 million less for our route. It's just almost unrealistic to think they're going to spend an extra $60 million in my opinion. Why tear up another 20 acres of wetland if you don't have to? It just doesn't make sense,” Lewis said.

He added he was also glad to see council representatives from so many of Celina's neighbors. There were council people there from Anna, Melissa, McKinney and Pilot Point.

The NTTA is considering three different alignments. The Green Alignment veers west/northwest directly towards Pilot Point and meets up with U.S. Highway 377 just north of Pilot Point. The second alignment, Yellow and Red, veers west then due north up the Denton and Collin County line. The third Orange and Red alignment, goes straight north from the existing roadway.

The Green Alignment moves the majority of developable DNT frontage outside of Celina and Collin County. About $40 million to $50 million of annual tax revenue will go to Pilot Point and Denton County. Project development cost in 2010 dollars is about $890 million.

The Yellow/Red Alignment along the Denton/Collin County line will also divert tax dollars away from Celina. The estimated cost of developing the Yellow-Red alignment is $865 million.

The Orange/Red alignment would allow Celina and Collin County to provide a high level of services for a fairly low tax rate. It would be less expensive to build because it does not go through flood plain. The alignment along the county line will require several bridges to elevate the road above the flood plain. The Orange/Red alignment project development cost will be about $805 million.

“The Orange/Red route would bring prosperity to our town,” Celina resident Kandace Hancock said. It's only a mile off the square.”

The next step for the NTTA staff is to evaluate public meeting comments and finalize an alternative alignment analysis. The NTTA board then selects a locally preferred alternative. The staff will then develop a preliminary design schematic and environmental evaluation on the locally preferred route.

A tentative time line is for the board to approve a locally preferred route in July this year. Design development would take place from July through February 2011. Formal public hearings would be conducted in March of next year. The NTTA board would approve schematic design in June 2011.

Another alternative Lewis said is possible is that the NTTA board could decide not to choose a route or do anything else for awhile.

The NTTA is still taking public comments. They can be emailed to DNT45@ntta.org.

Comments can be written and sent to Corridor Manager, Re: DNT 4B/5A Project, P.O. Box 260729, Plano, Texas 75026.

For information on all three proposed routes for the Dallas North Tollway extension visit www.ntta.org.

link to article at The Celina Record....

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....

=================

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

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) is holding a public meeting at 6:30 on Monday night (March 8) at the Allen City Hall to present and get comments on three items:

• Mobility 2035: Determining the Future of Transportation in the Region
  NCTCOG is developing the next long-term transportation plan, Mobility 2035. It will be a comprehensive plan that includes projects and policies aimed at meeting transportation needs through the next 25 years.
  
  
• Status Report: List of Funded Projects and Economic Recovery
  Project Progress
  A comprehensive list of funded transportation projects through 2011 is maintained in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Projects with committed funds from federal, state and local sources are included in the TIP.
  
  
• Advancing Transportation Projects and Drafting Plans for Potential Funding Opportunities
  Staff will summarize how $43 million awarded to North Texas on Feb. 17 from the federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant Program will benefit S.H. 161 and the downtown Dallas streetcar project.
  
  

NCTCOG is the regional planning authority for federal and state financed transportation projects. It is an association of just about all the local governments in the North Texas Region and is financed with your tax dollars.

Then on Wednesday, March 10, The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is partnering with the NCTCOG to hold a 'Town Hall' meeting at Plano's City Hall to give residents and local officials an opportunity to share their thoughts on local transportation issues and needs.

TxDOT, along with NCTCOG and other local transportation representatives, will be on hand to answer questions and provide information on projects and funding, including a brief perspective on regional infrastructure requirements for the future.

“It’s important to engage Texans in the discussion—to bring citizens to the table so they can contribute to shaping our future transportation system and participate in the statewide funding conversation,” said Amadeo Saenz, TxDOT executive director.

Citizens are encouraged to attend these meetings and provide feedback on regional transportation issues. The information received will be used to help Texas plan and develop an efficient transportation system—one that is sophisticated enough to meet the needs of future generations, he noted.

A webcast link will be available on the TxDOT home page. Viewers can participate in the town hall via the Internet and have an opportunity to submit questions during the meeting.

Bill

Election day is only one day away and the candidates are busy slinging barbs at each other as to who stood where, who gave to who's campaign and who spent money on campaign consultants.

Meanwhile real issues, involving real people are little debated or even discussed.

I haven't seen any substantial discussion of the Collin County Toll Road Authority and the county's Outer Loop.
Bill

It was in May of 2008, when the commissioners court met at Murphy City Hall in a meeting that was supposed to "take the court on the road", but which instead made two decisions that had great impact on the county. In executive session that night, the court approved a law suit against their Auditor. The suit eventually cost the citizens over $350,000.

But also that night, the commissioners voted to rescind an agreement made with Denton County and the NTTA on the alignment of the future expansion of the Dallas North Tollway. The commissioners wanted the road, and its subsequent commercial development, not on the county line, but completely in Collin County. They also began to make plans to create a county toll road authority to develop the extension of the Dallas North Tollway.

A few months later, the Collin County Toll Road Authority was born. It's mission was to secure financing for the DNT extension and to finance and build what Collin County called their "Outer Loop".

The Outer Loop is a segment of a regional "Loop 9" originally conceived as the DFW bypass along the Trans Texas Corridor. This huge loop road will, when and if built, completely encircle Dallas and Fort Worth. The Collin County portion begin at the DNT on the Denton county line and would run north of McKinney before turning south to end at the Rockwall County line.

The Collin County Commissioners, facing rapid growth in their own county, were clearly frustrated with the slow pace of development of the regional loop. They decided to go it alone at a cost of $4 billion. They had no idea how to pay for such a huge project, but they hoped that the county's rapid growth would attract a public-private partnership that would finance and operate the Outer Loop for toll revenue.

They didn't count on the recession, the killing of the Trans Texas Corridor, or the fact that no one, not even the Spanish giant Cintra, was going to write a check for $4 billion to build a super highway to connect Melissa to Royce City.

Their insistence on forming their own toll authority, their attempt to hijack the DNT extension, and their perceived reluctance to work in a regional manner also frustrated those local partners whose cooperation was needed to make the road economically possible. At a State Senate hearing, Dallas' Republican Senator John Carona told Keith Self, "I don't think Collin County plays nice lately. "I don't think they have a regional concern, but only for provincial Collin County."

Denton County Judge Mary Horn scolded the commissioners with, "I think you should honor your county's agreements." Denton Commissioner Andy Eads told the press that, "I was very disappointed. Everyone represents their own jurisdiction, but we also have to wear the hat of regionalism."

The NTTA, reacting to the takeover of the DNT extension garnered support in the legislature for a bill that would have required the county to get the NTTA's permission to build any toll road in Collin County. The chairman of the NTTA board, a Collin County appointee, told the commissioners, "We're not going to make a political decision. We're going to make the right decision for the agency."

Frantic, last minute backtracking by the county allowed for a compromise where Collin County gave up any claim to the DNT, and the bill was dropped.

The commissioners, in going it alone, likely slowed any opportunity for regional cooperation with Denton and Rockwall Counties. Cooperation with both counties is critical. To make the Loop economically viable, it needs to connect more than small towns here - it needs to go west in Denton County to I-35 and South through Rockwall to I-30.

However, even though no financing of the construction of the Outer Loop is in place (nor likely to be anytime soon), the commissioners court believes that it is important to acquire the needed land for the Loop's right of way. Their reasoning is that over time, the land will become more expensive, and as vacant land fills it will be harder to plot a path across the county.

The county has the cash. $7 million was set aside for the road back in the 2007 budget. So the land acquisition plan, especially on the northern leg of the loop, has gone forward - with or without the acquiescence of local land owners.

For the last year, the county has been using its power of Eminent Domain to force the purchase of at least 7 different properties without the consent of the sellers.

In today's court session, the commissioners will vote to "lend" (against future toll revenue) the Collin County Toll Road Authority $6 million to pay for these condemned properties.

For a road that may never be built, at least not in our lifetime.

Bill

Update March 1, 2010:

The Commissioners Court agreed in today's meeting to lend their Toll Road Authority the money. The only discussion was on a suggestion by Jerry Hoagland that the county charge the CCTRA interest on the funds.

Then, meeting as the Collin County Toll Road Authority, the commissioners voted without discussion to spend the money to close the condemnation sales.

I was interested to see that the Chairman of the Texas Senate Committee on Transportation issued a not-so-veiled threat today to the CCTRA. On his blog, Senator John Carona's spokesman wrote, "The compromise language between the Collin County Toll Authority and the North Texas Tollway Authority was ultimately removed from legislation. As a result, Senator Carona is observing how the relationship progresses over the interim, and depending on that outcome, may proceed with appropriate legislation in the 82nd session."

He's telling Self and company to "play nice".

Bill

Editorial: Transit innovation


The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board
Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Expanding the reach of rail transit in North Texas will take progress big and small on multiple fronts. Here are a couple of areas where things are quietly heading the right way:

In Austin – House Speaker Joe Straus officially invited ideas on new ways of paying for transportation projects. The speaker announced special committees last week to study needs and report to him on, among other things, "using alternative funding options at the state and local levels."

That was the right move. A bill to permit local-option elections on transportation funding crashed and burned spectacularly in the House last year. Straus' leadership team now must sort through possibilities for solving the inarguable problem of urban traffic congestion.

Traffic planners maintain that expanded rail transit is a must, and this newspaper agrees. Last year's local-option bill would have given voters a say on paying for new transit projects as well as badly needed urban roadways.

Lawmakers in both parties are also making a strong case for raising the motor-fuels tax for the first time since 1991, but any such revenue could go only to roads, not rail, under current law.

That's where the special House committees come in. The speaker's proclamation last week also used the words "innovative approaches," and it couldn't have been said better. Innovation in solving traffic congestion is what transportation leaders in North Texas have been pushing for. It's good to see Straus expressing interest in more of that.

In North Texas – A coalition of cities and transportation agencies has stepped up efforts to develop the long-proposed east-west Cotton Belt rail link to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. It would connect northern suburbs and North Dallas to the airport and run through downtown Fort Worth. DART owns the Cotton Belt right of way but doesn't have the money to put the project together.

Again, innovation is called for. The North Central Texas Council of Governments is finishing a report on ways the six cities on the east side of the airport can team up with property owners and DART to start the new line.

For example, developers might be interested in sharing construction costs if passenger stations were located on their land. The University of Texas at Dallas might want to hire a developer to build a station and amenities on campus.

One audacious idea under discussion is encouraging a manufacturer to locate along the Cotton Belt and produce the next generation of diesel rail cars, which are in demand nationwide for new transit lines.

Ultimately, voter-approved money may be needed to put this project over the top. But since nothing is guaranteed out of Austin, North Texas leaders are smart to look for creative ways to achieve the goal of a seamless regional rail network.

link to this editorial at The Dallas Morning News....

DART considers letting more cities aboard at lower cost

Sunday, January 24, 2010
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News

Dallas Area Rapid Transit is considering ways to bring new cities aboard without requiring them to pay a full cent of sales tax, which has been a core membership requirement since the agency's founding more than a quarter-century ago.

That full-penny requirement, which in recent years has meant more than $200 million a year in sales tax contributions from Dallas alone, has been the biggest obstacle to the agency's growth. One fast-growing suburb after another has chosen to stay out of DART rather than surrender all of its discretionary sales tax revenue to pay for bus and rail service.

DART president Gary Thomas said preliminary discussions have begun among his board members and leaders in cities that border the agency's 13 member cities.

"When we started DART in 1983, it didn't make sense for some of these outlying cities to be part of a regional system," Thomas said. "The revenues in those cities were not sufficient, and neither was the likely ridership. But here as we find ourselves with a lot of first-ring suburbs as part of the agency ... and we have gone way beyond that."

He and DART board members said they would like to persuade some new cities to join, though they said it will take a patient strategy.

The first efforts probably will be to persuade cities to simply contract for specified services – probably limited bus service, Thomas said, adding that doing so would require changes to DART rules.

"Right now, our board policy says I can only contract for commuter [rail] service," he said. "But some communities have approached us about contracting for bus service, so we have begun those conversations at the board to talk about a policy change.

"In other words, if a city wants to have us run three routes in the morning and three in the evening, then we'd send those buses – probably bringing the passengers to downtown Dallas or another central location – and send the city a bill, and they would send us a check."

That's a far cry from ushering in new cities as full members of DART, but, Thomas said, it's an important first step. All the cities that border DART cities have obligated their sales tax revenue for other purposes, and it will take several years for most of them to be in a position to even consider dedicating any of that money to DART.

"These cities would begin to carve out room in their budgets" so that a discussion about becoming a member – whether at a full penny or, if DART changes its rules, at a reduced rate – would be a less drastic step, Thomas said.

Finding new members – even if in a reduced capacity – would help DART in two big ways.

First, the new members would provide badly needed growth for an agency that hasn't expanded its revenue base since shortly after its founding.

The last city to join DART, by a local referendum in 1985, was Buckingham, a city later annexed by Richardson. There have been no attempts by any of its neighbors to join since then. Meanwhile, only two cities have dropped out – Coppell and Flower Mound, both in 1989.

Second, new members, even junior ones, could help ease frustration among some member cities confronted with sagging sales tax receipts.

One founding member, Plano, has already asked DART to prepare a summary of what would be required should it decide to quit, Thomas and officials in Plano said.

"We are working on that now," Thomas said, adding that staff is determining how many years Plano would have to dedicate sales taxes to DART following a withdrawal. "It wouldn't be for just a year or two. If a city were to have a [successful] pullout election, the service would stop the next day, but the financial obligations for that city may not stop that day."

The soonest Plano could hold such an election would be 2014, though officials there said no serious discussion of calling an election has begun.

Still, Thomas said DART takes any such request seriously. "It doesn't come up often, but occasionally it has ... They begin to say, 'Gosh, is there a better way to spend our money?' "

Not surprisingly, for Thomas the answer is no.

But he said complaints from Plano, which has two busy light rail stations plus extensive bus routes, reflect growing pressures among older suburbs as they weather an economic downturn while their neighbors use their sales taxes to promote economic development.

"Certainly in these tough economic times, cities are looking for ways to look for relief in their financial system," he said.

He said DART has begun studying ways to increase service to Plano, with a special focus on how to ramp up services for elderly citizens.

Meanwhile, Mayor Phil Dyer of Plano said there has been no serious talk of withdrawing from DART, despite occasional criticism. But he said it's easy to lament the flow of more than $55 million in annual sales taxes out of the city.

"If we had this election again, and had the option of using the penny for economic development, I am not sure how it would come out this time, either here in Plano or in any of the DART cities," Dyer said.

Rick Stopher, mayor pro tem in Irving, said his city is thrilled to finally be able to welcome rail service to town as the Orange Line opens in phases beginning next year.

"We're had our difficulties with DART, but right now we're like a kid with a shiny new toy; we can't wait for it to get here," he said. "But we have these conversations all the time, questions about whether DART has been a good investment."

read the rest of the article, including a listing of member city contributions at The Dallas Morning News....

Mileage Meters? Texans Could Get Taxed By the Mile

By KEN KALTHOFF / NBCDFW Channel 5
Updated 11:19 PM CST, Fri, Jan 15, 2010

A tax on the miles you drive could be a way to pay for Texas roads in the future.

Texas transportation planners are studying the idea of a “mileage meter” to help raise money.

Cars built after 1999 have a computer port that can access many types of data about the vehicle.

Progressive Insurance already offers a device that connects to that port for pay as you go rates.

“Mileage does have a lot to do with it,” said Mike Leonard, a Progressive insurance agent in Carrollton. “The less the miles, the less exposure Progressive has. So therefore, they’re willing to give you a discount on your rates.”

The Texas Department of Transportation is investigating whether such a device might also be used to tax drivers for how much they use roads.

“I’m not ready to embrace that technology, but it is a technology we may have to look at,” said State Sen. John Carona, of Dallas, a Republican.

Carona said Texas has an estimated $100 billion worth of unfunded transportation needs.

“The money simply does not exist, and if people are being honest with constituents, they come out and just tell them that," he said. "We don’t have the money in Austin, and there isn’t the ability locally to raise this money to be able to solve these problems.”

Carona said a 20-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax approved 19 years ago no longer covers Texas transportation requirements. The state senator said he believes Texas has resorted to too many toll roads, which he claims cost citizens more in the long run.

“It’s not a good public policy," he said. "I would argue continued advancement toward more toll roads is bad for Texas.”

Another pay-as-you-go plan might require drivers to electronically record their mileage at the gas pump, which is already required by for some private company cars.

Carona said raising the gas tax by 10 cents per gallon could pay for all the unfunded transportation needs, but Carona has found that option has found that option extremely unpopular among state lawmakers.

One way or another, all of the options require citizens to pay more to solve Texas transportation needs.

“We are substantially behind the times in dealing with this,” Carona said. “We’re going to face substantially greater congestion and air quality issues.”

read article and watch video coverage on NBCDFW....

According to this editorial from The Dallas Morning News, the quality of Texas highways sunk from 8th to 17th in the nation.

In DFW toll lane miles will grow from 520 to over 3,300 miles by 2030. Many of these lanes will charge tolls in excess of $1/mile.

There are no major highway projects planned for the Collin county area that are not dependent on the collection of tolls for financing. Most of these new roads will be built and managed by private enterprise, not government. These new roads will require that they make investors a decent profit - if they don't, tolls will rise.

Collin County will be seeing its share of these managed lanes and toll roads. Frisco is already almost completely locked in by toll roads, and if the Central Expressway expansion is tolled (as is likely), all of our larger cities will be largely inaccessible without the paying of tolls.

If nothing is done, our citizens will live in continual traffic gridlock, and our air quality will worsen. Our continued growth will stall if we do not have the necessary transportation infrastructure to sustain that growth. We simply will not be able to attract major corporations, if their employees can not get to work.

Yet, we've heard very little from our County Commissioner candidates and incumbents on their plans to prevent Collin County from, in effect, becoming a "Gated Community" with a $20 price of admission in tolls for a daily commute.

It would be easy to simply place the blame on the state and federal governments. But here, in one of the fastest growing counties in the nation, just blaming someone else does nothing to solve our problems.

The Collin County Observer will be pleased to publish, unedited, any statement from a commissioners' court candidate or incumbent on planning and/or financing the needed expansion of our transportation systems.

Bill

also see:
DMN - NTTA leaders fear Dallas area's push for toll roads is moving too fast, CCO ,December 28, 2009

Mass transit sinking in Collin County?, CCO, October 11, 2009

DMN - North Texas Tollway Authority OKs rate hike, CCO, July 17, 2009

==========================

Editorial: Solutions to traffic woes are scarce

Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board

As if we need reminders that traffic around here is a drag.

The Texas highway system has slipped several notches in new state rankings from the free-market Reason Foundation. Rated for performance and efficiency, Texas has fallen from eighth in the nation to 17th.

The reason: urban congestion. Texas' metro highways now rank as the 11th most congested in the nation, according to the Reason analysis.

That's bad for business, bad for the air, bad for the quality of life.

At least the bad news helps remind state leaders of their negligence in protecting urban economies from the corrosive effects of impossible traffic.

Too little state money has been flowing to metro areas to complete and improve regional highway grids, and top leaders are generally bankrupt of bold, definitive ideas to reverse the trend.

That leaves North Texas with few options to building a massive system of tolled and partially tolled highways.

Just how massive may come as a shock to drivers whose monthly TollTag? charges rival their utility bills:

•Today, North Texas has 520 miles of tolled lanes.

•In 2030, the region is expected to have 3,379 miles of tolled lanes.

Those include hybrid projects like the massive LBJ rebuild, which will provide free lanes as well as toll lanes for drivers willing to pay for guaranteed speed. That's a useful traffic-management tool, even if people with toll fatigue won't see it that way.

It's hard to get state lawmakers to admit it, but the widening web of tollways is preordained by their refusal to boost the main source of state road revenue: the motor fuels tax.

That tax was last raised, to 20 cents a gallon, in 1991. Since then, inflation has eroded the buying power to about 13 cents.

The Senate transportation chairman, Sen. John Carona of Dallas, has the guts to call for an increase of 10 cents a gallon. But few others have been interested in discussing that obvious step, preferring to focus on new borrowing programs.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is reviving talk of financing projects by borrowing against additional sales taxes that would be generated along a new roadway. He also wants to analyze whether money now dedicated to rural roads should be shifted to fighting urban congestion.

Both ideas deserve careful consideration by lawmakers, but we doubt they would bring enough money to avert a predicted cutoff of new state highway projects come 2012.

Neither do we see funding initiatives among transportation ideas announced yesterday by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in her run for governor. She said she is skeptical about the need for new money and wants to concentrate on an audit of TxDOT?. Gov. Rick Perry has made it clear that he thinks roadways are underfunded, but he has stopped short of calling for specific new sources of money.

If state leaders are unwilling to own the problem and point the way to a solution, they may someday have to deal with a threat that Carona pointed out in the Reason study: Mississippi is gaining on us.

link to this editorial at The Dallas Morning News....

My only comment is "duh!"

Bill

--------------------------

"People are going to realize that every new road in the metroplex is going to be a toll road."
NTTA vice chairman Victor Vandergriff

NTTA leaders fear Dallas area's push for toll roads is moving too fast

Sunday, December 27, 2009
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News

As the Dallas area rushes forward in pursuit of more toll roads, warnings that it may be doing so at its own peril have been emanating from an unexpected corner: the top leaders of the North Texas Tollway Authority.

Even as the NTTA enters the final weeks of negotiations that all sides expect will conclude by Feb. 28 with a multibillion-dollar deal to build two new giant toll projects in Dallas and Tarrant counties, the agency's two top board members have been warning that the region may be moving too fast on toll roads.

"People are going to realize that every new road in the metroplex is going to be a toll road," NTTA vice chairman Victor Vandergriff said at a recent meeting of the NTTA board.

He was only exaggerating a little.

The Regional Transportation Council approves a 25-year plan for area transportation projects every five years – and the current plan has included a map with precious few free roads. Roads paid for with taxes have emerged as something of a luxury, one that the RTC no longer sees as affordable, given the rising needs and insufficient funds from Austin and Washington.

A new plan is in the works now, and officials say it could shift away from tolls.

But for now, tolls are fast becoming the dominant way local officials hope to move Dallas area residents from one place to another.

The NTTA already manages three major toll roads – the Sam Rayburn Tollway, the Bush Turnpike, and its oldest and still most lucrative, the Dallas North Tollway – and is collecting tolls on the first stages of a fourth, State Highway 161 in Dallas County.

Over the next six weeks or so, NTTA is expected to reach an agreement with the state Department of Transportation to complete Highway 161 and build the Southwest Parkway and Chisholm Trail toll roads in Tarrant County. A major expansion of the Bush Turnpike is under way now, and officials in Dallas continue to hope that NTTA will build the Trinity Parkway near downtown. State officials have said they want to add new tolled lanes to Interstate 35 between Dallas to Denton, as a means to pay for the expansion of that highway.

In addition, two major private toll roads, the region's first, are expected to begin construction during the next 18 months. The Spanish toll road developer Cintra has teamed with other investors to rebuild LBJ Freeway in Dallas and Interstate 820 and State Highway 183 in Tarrant County, and will add what will probably be the costliest toll lanes in Texas on each.

Both toll projects are expected to be completed by 2016 or sooner.

"Even our free roads will soon have a toll component," Vandergriff said.

Both Vandergriff and NTTA chairman Paul Wageman, who has also voiced reservations about the extent of tolling in Dallas, say toll roads are essential as Texas tries to keep traffic moving in the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.

But they worry that adding too many tolls, too quickly, could erode the one thing that makes them such a valuable tool in the first place: the willingness of drivers to pay their tolls.

"I do have concerns ... that the public will only tolerate a certain amount of tolling," Wageman told reporters at a news briefing in Arlington earlier this month. "We understand that to get the roads built, there is going to be a tolling component [to help pay for them]. But we are concerned because ultimately we must have public receptivity to tolling. We do not want to be in a position where that receptivity goes away, as that ultimately affects the business we are in."

Toll roads remain a daily trade-off for hundreds of thousands of NTTA customers, who pay to save valuable time getting to work or the airport or to a meeting after school.

But will they remain popular, in the face of rising rates and as they spread to every corner of the region?

Vandergriff and Wageman voiced their worries separately this month as negotiations over Southwest Parkway and Highway 161 accelerated and brought into focus the debt required to build those roads, on top of the $7 billion NTTA already owes.

All that debt will be paid for by tolls – and if the tolls don't produce enough revenue to satisfy bondholders, the rates would probably have to jump, just as they did earlier this year when NTTA increased rates by about 23 percent.

But raising rates will only work if enough drivers are willing to pay the higher rates to offset those who abandon the toll roads.

read the rest of this article at The Dallas Morning News....

Since their introduction in Collin County in early 2006, electronic red-light cameras have generated not only money for cities and the state, but also their fair share of controversy.

Statistics compiled by the Texas Department of Transportation, and analyzed by The Texas Tribune, show that in 2008, Collin County cities raked in over $4 million in revenue from over 80,000 citations written after drivers were caught by these cameras. O

Over $1 million was generated by 2 cameras alone - The county's most profitable camera, at Coit and Spring Creek in Plano raked in over $600,000, while another at Custer and SH 121 generated over %585,000 in fine revenue.

According to a story on NBCDW.com, the area's top performing camera is in Duncanville. The camera, at Danieldale Rd and US 67 generated over $1 million in one year.

Plano, McKinney and Richardson all deploy red light cameras. Frisco, which installed 2 o the cameras in 2006, pulled them out of service in May of 2009.

Chart courtesy of The Texas Tribune

"While some [Texas] cities have lost money on the cameras in recent years, they've been lucrative for many others, generating, by a conservative estimate, as much as $60 million in fines. The cities share their profits — fines, less expenses — with the state, and spend the rest on traffic safety," notes The Texas Tribune.

A 2008 report by TxDOT states that the cameras do a good job of reducing traffic accidents. According to the report, "there were 586 annualized collisions across all intersections. In contrast, 413 annualized crashes were reported during the same time period following installation which resulted in an average decrease of 30%."

"In regards to red light violation crashes, there were 265 annualized right angle collisions prior to the installation of the camera system. By way of comparison, an annualized total of 151 post-installation collisions occurred for a crash reduction change of 114 events. This 114 difference represents a 43% annualized decrease in right angle collisions at the treatment intersection locations."

Some have complained that the cameras actually increase the number of rear end collisions when drivers brake suddenly to avoid being nabbed by the cameras. The TxDOT report notes that, "There were 106 annualized rear end crashes that occurred at intersections prior to the installation of the camera systems. Post-installation, there were 111 annualized rear end collisions that occurred. Although the number of overall rear end crashes increased slightly by 5% or approximately 5 crashes, 66% of the intersections decreased or maintained the same frequency of rear end crash events."

Listed below are the red light cameras active in Collin County. On the right hand column of this blog is an interactive map showing the locations of all the cameras. Clicking on any one camera will bring up detailed information on citations, traffic, revenue and accidents.

Bill

In 2007, Texas voters authorized the State to issue up to $5 billion in general revenue bonds for transportation and highways. Last week, TxDOT approved $2 billion of these bond funds for non-tolled highway projects.

Central Texas was the big winner, with nearly $1 billion pledged to expand I-35 from 4 lanes to 6. The North Texas region came out the big loser.

What did Collin County get? For one thing, no new roads, but more than almost any other North Texas County.

The total funding for Collin County is $18.2 million, while Dallas is slated to receive only about $3.77 million for new lanes on I-30 downtown and for repairing I-20 near LBJ freeway.

Denton County will get $11.2 million, Grayson - $3.9 million, Hunt - $20.1 million, Rockwall - $2.6 million. Tarrant County received a paltry $215,000.

The projects whose funding was approved in Collin County are:

1. $6.1 million for repairs to FM 543, north of McKinney to Weston
2. $3.6 million to rebuild two portions of FM 545, near Melissa
3. $4.0 million to rebuild a part of FM 546 near the Collin County Airport in McKinney
4. $4.5 million for repairs to SH 6 from SH 78 to the Hunt County Line

The funding for the North Texas region, including Collin County is significantly, and ridiculously below our needs.

One explanation? Our elected state representatives are not doing their job. In a posting on the Dallas Morning News Transportation Blog, Michael Lindenberger reports that one legislator form Mesquite wrote a letter, "to Transportation Commission chairwoman Deirdre Delisi, urging her to table the item [the allocation of bond funds], [it] was signed by just seven other House members from the region. An aide told me last night that all members of the delegation had been asked to sign it, but many had not done so." If our legislative delegations can't at least try to secure the funds we need, the only new roads this region will see built will be tolled.

That's how it has been and how it is likely to remain without some serious political pressure from a unified North Texas legislative delegation.

Bill

$60M renovation kicks off at airport

Collin County facility to add runway, new tower
Dallas Business Journal - by Jeff Bounds Staff writer

After nearly seven years of planning, a $60 million renovation at the Collin County Regional Airport is about to take off.

Set to finish by 2013, the project entails a variety of improvements to the 79-year-old airport, including putting down a new runway that will be 7,000 feet long and 150 feet wide. The current one is 7,000 feet long by 100 feet wide.

“The existing runway will become our parallel taxiway,” said Ken Wiegand, executive director of the McKinney Airport Development Corp., which operates, markets and develops the airport.

In addition, the current control tower, a 33-foot temporary facility that was moved there from Alliance Airport in the late ’90s, will be replaced by a 90-foot tower that will give controllers direct line-of-sight views of the entire replacement runway.

“We’re setting the airport for the future that we know is coming,” Wiegand said. “We know demand is going to increase here ... We’re building the infrastructure we need now, and have planned for, to accommodate increased traffic.”

With the Wright Amendment that limits flight distances from Dallas Love Field set to end in 2014, general aviation traffic “will look for new places to operate,” Wiegand added. “We also believe that some of the business aircraft owners at Addison Airport will look for a less-congested, more cost-effective airport.”

However, traffic at Collin County Regional has dropped in the last couple of years, a trend that’s true across area airports because of the economy, Wiegand said.

Total traffic, as measured by the combination of takeoffs and landings, fell from 106,039 in 2007 to 101,743 in 2008 and 93,570 in ’09, he said. But Wiegand maintains a better number to examine is the falling percentage of flight training out of Collin County Regional, which means that business aviation is growing. Training flights as a percentage of combined takeoffs and landings fell from 78% in fiscal ’02 to about 64% in the last fiscal year.

Collin County Regional has fans outside of McKinney.

“It’s kind of like our premiere airport for (the Dallas-Fort Worth) metro region,” said Karon Wiedemann, director of grant management at the Texas Department of Transportation.

Wiedemann, whose duties include heading up TxDOT grantmaking to airports statewide, said Collin County Regional sits in “a high-growth area. There’s a lot of development in the area ... Land is still available, with (room) to allow for expansion. It’s a really good business airport.”
Where the money comes from

The work at Collin County Regional, which is located in McKinney, will be paid for through federal, state and city sources, along with funding from the McKinney Economic Development Corp.

For the new $57 million runway, for instance, the Federal Aviation Administration is paying $33 million, the state will kick in $11 million and the McKinney Economic Development Corp. has allocated $7 million. The city will pay $5 million.

Wiegand hopes to start construction on the runway in January or February of 2010.

The control tower, meanwhile, will cost $3 million. Some $1.5 million is coming from the FAA, while the city also is paying $1.5 million. Construction will begin as soon as federal funds are appropriated by Congress, Wiegand said. “We expect that to be within the next 120 days.”

Before the airport can put out bids on the construction work for the runway project, however, it must first acquire about 45 acres of land south and east of it for safety buffers and for the relocation of F.M. 546 that runs south of the airport. Wiegand declined to reveal precisely where these land parcels are, but said he hoped to have all the required land purchased by Jan. 1.

A tertiary goal is to prepare the airport for commercial traffic. “Our initial focus is to be the premiere general aviation airport in the Metroplex. Our secondary goal is to prepare for commercial services,” Wiegan said.

Wiegand points out that the airport has spent a little over $3 million to build three taxi lanes that meet commercial standards.

In addition, the new runway will be wider and thicker than the current one to support larger commercial aircraft, up to the size of a Boeing 767, on a regular basis. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to attract a (Boeing 767),” Wiegand said. “We don’t have any current prospects” to have aircraft of that size flying in and out, he added.

The airport’s renovations are part of a broader attempt to overhaul facilities dating back to 2004. Including work done, renovations will total $72 million, Wiegand said.

read more.....

While DART expands its network with a new Green Line train, and Denton County prepares for the debut of the A-Train, Collin County appears to have missed the bus.

Last year Frisco ended its sole bus route.

McKinney has limited week day service on 5 routes run by CCART (Collin County Area Regional Transit).

CCART is not a government agency, it's run by a charity, the Collin County Committee on Aging (CCCOA). Most of the funding for CCART comes from federal, state and local governments, but it does not have access to its own tax revenue source. The CCCOA also runs the Collin County Meals on Wheels and other programs for senior citizens and their caregivers.

KTEN, Channel 10 in Denison reports that last week the Texoma Area Public Transportation Service (TAPS) received a $1 million dollar grant from TxDOT in the form of 9 used buses. Where did the buses come from? CCART.

The nine buses were surplus vehicles donated by TxDOT because they've sat unused by CCART for several months.

TAPS director Gary Underwood is quoted as saying, "[TxDOT] got together and knew we needed the vehicles and they knew we were expanding so rapidly and so quickly, there's such a demand in the Grayson County area for service so we went and got the vehicles and are putting them to good use".

TAPS hired more than 30 new employees last month and is still looking to add more.

Meanwhile Collin County, which appears to have no need for public transportation, is watching its ability to provide mass transit sink.

What's the difference in the transit needs of Collin, Grayson, and Denton Counties? Very little.

What's the difference in the will of the elected leaders of these three counties to provide a network of public transit? Huge.

Except for in Plano, which is a long time member of DART, Collin County's political and business leaders don't seem to have the political will nor the vision to provide their citizens with a mass transit solution.

Our short sightedness will, not may, but will impact the future growth prospects, the air, and the quality of life in our county.

As Pogo was fond of saying, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Bill

He helped bring DART to Plano

From a DART press release:

The City of Plano and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) will officially dedicate the Jack Hatchell Transit Center on Monday, October 12, at 10 a.m.

The facility at 4040 West 15th St., Plano, which opened in January 1989 as the West Plano Transit Center, will be renamed by Plano and DART dignitaries at a ceremony honoring the memory of the highly respected Collin County Commissioner and transportation leader who died last year after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Hatchell, who was instrumental in the success of Plano's election to join DART, was a public servant for more than 30 years and served on the Plano City Council from 1975 to 1985.

Taking part in the dedication will be City of Plano Mayor Phil Dyer, DART President and Executive Director Gary Thomas, DART Board of Directors Chairman Randall Chrisman and former Collin County Commissioner Phyllis Cole.

The Jack Hatchell Transit Center features eight bus drop-off and pick-up areas and 822 parking spaces at its location just west of Coit Road. Thousands of customers utilize DART from West Plano every week and are served with bus routes to such major locations as downtown Dallas, Medical Center of Plano and the Telecom Corridor.

Bill

Collin County wants to build a bridge across Lake Lavon.

And that's steamed up a lot of residents. Yesterday over 300 local citizens overflowed the Wylie City Council chambers to let officials know they wanted nothing to do with a toll bridge and 6 lane road that is planned to connect Parker Rd in Lucas with SH 78 north of the City of Lavon.

HNTB, a large engineering firm, was selected by the commissioners court to do a study to determine the 'preferred right of way' for the bridge project. As part of that study, HNTB held a public hearing to get citizen input on the proposed bridge routes. Instead, they got a blast from property owners who wanted no bridge, and especially, no toll bridge.

County officials were quick to point out that any plans to build the bridge were decades away, and commissioner Joe Jaynes told the crowd that since there was no money budgeted for a bridge, it was a near certainty that it would have to be built as a toll road. Jaynes and Commissioner Jerry Hoagland told the crowd that the county had to plan for future growth. County Judge Keith Self, who moderated the meeting told the crowd that he was opposed to the bridge because he didn't think it would generate enough toll revenue to pay for itself.

Most of those who spoke expressed a desire to maintain a rural way of life on the Branch Peninsula and eastern shores of Lavon. They asked that the county improve existing roads, such as highway 78 and US 380 to handle the expected increased traffic rather than build a bridge.

Several citizens criticized the county for spending over $374,000 for a right of way study designed to plan a route for the new road and bridge that might never be built. One speaker asked that the commissioners quit spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to "draw colored lines on a map". In 2007, citizens approved transportation bonds that included the money to fund the bridge ROW study.

Bill

The Observer has been following the county's progress towards constructing a controversial bridge over Lake Lavon that will connect Lucas to the eastern shore of the lake and will, if built, provide a route via an expanded Parker Road from Plano to the eastern Outer Loop.

As is also true with the entire Outer Loop project, county officials have no idea how to pay for the bridge - they assume it will have to be a toll road, probably constructed and operated by a private company in what's known as a Public Private Partnership (PPP). Meanwhile however, the county is speculating with $376,000 in bond and reserve funds to finance the engineering studies needed before the bridge and connecting roads can be built.

Opposition to the bridge is already being organized, with a group called "Save Lake Lavon" organizing homeowners and sailing enthusiasts who want to preserve the rural feel of the area. Also, the anti toll group TURF (Texans United for Reform and Freedom) have stated their opposition to the toll bridge in an email sent out last week.

All sides of the debate will have a chance to be heard this Wednesday, when the county and its engineering firm (HNTB) hold a public hearing in Wylie on the proposed "preferred right of way" (preferred route) for the bridge and connecting roads.

The County Toll Bridge Public Hearing is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, October 7 at 6:30 P.M. at the Wylie Municipal Building, 2000 Highway 78 North in Wylie.

Bill

===================================

The Dallas Morning News published an article by Ed Housewright yesterday on opposition to the toll bridge:

Residents protest proposed bridge over Lavon Lake

Monday, October 5, 2009
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News

Joe Simmons traded the congestion of Plano for the tranquility of Lavon Lake a year ago.

Joe Simmons worries that a proposed six-lane bridge across the southern end of Lavon Lake would destroy his serene lifestyle.

He moved his family to a home on 3 acres with a lake view. He drives down a secluded road to reach his hilltop property in eastern Collin County.

"I love it," Simmons said. "It's nice and quiet. The air is fresh, and there's lots of wildlife."

He fears that a proposed six-lane bridge across the southern end of Lavon Lake would destroy his serenity.

Simmons and many other lake residents plan to attend a public hearing Wednesday night in Wylie to protest the project. They say it's too expensive, isn't necessary to relieve congestion and would bring unwanted development to the lake.

"One of the plans comes right through my front yard," said Jerry Jones, who has lived on the lake for 21 years. "I'm going to fight it tooth and nail as long as I can."

County officials stress that the bridge isn't warranted now and may never be built. If it is, construction might not begin for 20 years or more, they say.

For now, officials want to select an alignment in case the county's growth necessitates a bridge. Several proposed routes will be presented at the hearing at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Wylie Municipal Complex.

"I think everybody thinks we're going to come out next week and start construction," said County Commissioner Joe Jaynes, whose district includes the lake. "That's just not the case."

Not enough people

The portion of Collin County east of Lavon Lake is largely unincorporated. It doesn't have enough people to justify a major connector across the lake, said Commissioner Jerry Hoagland, who also represents part of the lake area.

Eventually, however, the county's population is expected to more than double to about 2 million people.

"Then it would likely be a viable project," Hoagland said.

The project would actually consist of two bridges. One would start on the lake's west side in Lucas and connect to the peninsula in the center. A second bridge would extend to the eastern shore near the town of Lavon.

Irma Batres has lived on the lake's east side for 12 years. She calls her modest home a "handyman's special," but she doesn't want to lose it to make room for the bridge.

"It's beautiful out here," Batres said. "It's a little piece of heaven. You can see hawks and cranes."

The homes around the lake vary greatly. A new brick house may sit next to a dilapidated frame one.

County Engineer Ruben Delgado said officials have no timetable to acquire right of way for the bridges and thoroughfare. Even if commissioners choose a preferred route after this week's hearing, no design work is planned in the foreseeable future, Delgado said.

"It could stay a line on the map forever," he said.

read more....

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has announced that it will hold a public hearing Wednesday, September 30 at 4 p.m., at the Maribelle Davis Library, 7501 Independence Pkwy, Suite B, Plano, Texas.

According to TxDOT's press release, the hearing will be to, "gather comments from interested persons regarding the proposed transfer to the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) of a portion of State Highway 121 from Hillcrest Road to Watters Road in Collin County."

The press release then goes on to state that, "Following the public hearing this portion of SH 121 mainlanes will become part of the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) system and will become an extension of the recently renamed Sam Rayburn Tollway; however, the service roads will retain the SH 121 designation. The new seven mile segment of roadway is scheduled to open today."

TxDOT really wants to hear you opinion of what they have already decided to do! A citizen has got to ask, "What's the point?". All decisions have already been made, the grand opening of the new road is already planned the signs are printed. What does TxDOT want? A pat on the back for a new toll road?

Cities, School Boards, the county, the NCTCOG and all sorts of agencies hold public meetings to "gain public input" on proposed projects and bond issues. I know, I've attended many.

I have frequently heard the organizers of these public hearings bemoan the fact that so few citizens bother to show up and speak their mind.

Most of theses hearings are organized and conducted by hired staff or contracted engineering firms. Rarely are the real decision makers present to listen and engage the citizens. Fancy slide shows and easels are displayed, not to present choices, but to convince attendees that the government or agency is working for the good of the community.

So all too often the public leaves with the impression that they attended a propaganda event, not a fact finding hearing.

Most taxpayers I have talked to tell me that they couldn't be bothered to attend a public hearing unless it was to try to stop the government from running a freeway across their front lawn the next morning.

These folks simply believe that their input doesn't matter - that the public hearing is just a show put on after all the decisions have been made.

Sadly for our Democracy, TxDOT has just proven them right.

Bill

A couple of weeks ago, County Judge Keith Self, with support from Commissioner Matt Shaheen, proposed that the county cap its popular rural gravel road paving program at 50 miles.

Self and Shaheen argued that stopping the paving would save asphalt inventories for next year, which they believe will be a much leaner budget year.

It was a goofy idea.

Monday, the court considered the idea of capping the paving program. Or to put it more accurately, on Monday, the court did everything it could to NOT consider capping the popular paving program.

The 10 Year Asphalt Program is in its 5th year. When the program started, the county contained about 480 miles of dirt and gravel roads. So far, over 262 miles of old dirt and gravel roads have been widened and replaced with safer, cleaner and more durable asphalt paving.

After a brief, (and he was urged by Self to remain 'brief'.) presentation by Public Works Director Jon Kleinheksel on the results so far of the 10 year paving program, and the savings realized by the reduced maintenance needed for paved, rather than gravel roads, Commissioner Ward spoke of the health and safety issues that result from old gravel roadways.

Judge Self was anxious to not have a debate, and he never called for a motion or a vote to cap the program. Instead, he moved on to the next agenda item as quickly as he could.

Since the 2010 budget maintains funding for the current rate of paving and inventories, the 10 year rural road paving program remains as it was before the County Judge's theatrics. This year, the Public Works Department is on track to asphalt 70 miles of rural, gravel roads.

Self's plan was goofy, and it never stood a chance of gaining a majority vote of the court.

Bill

Almost since the first day after his election, County Judge Keith Self has tried to chart a new, more libertarian, populist course for the county commissioners court.

While the Collin County Observer has been generally critical of many of Judge Self's ideas, we have supported several of his initiatives, especially those relating to government transparency. From putting the county's checkbook online to broadcasting and recording county meetings, the Transparency Project has met its goal of making county government more accessible and accountable.

Self's efforts to rein in the cost of engineering contracts has also been supported by this blog. While we believe that it is not in the public interest to always go with the lowest bidder for road and bridge design, there has been too much of an 'insider' aspect to selecting engineering firms for large projects.

The scrutiny that resulted has reduced the cost of engineering service contracts to Collin County taxpayers.

However, far and away the most important issues facing the citizens of this county have to do with the growth of the county and the need for roads and more efficient transportation infrastructure. And on these issues, our County Judge is, well... nuttier than a Corsicana fruitcake
.
Collin County is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. Our highways are all too frequently gridlocked - limiting growth potential, costing taxpayers uncounted millions in lost productivity and adding tons of exhaust to our already filthy air.

Yet one of Self's first public stances after taking office was to oppose the 2007 County Bond Program.

Among local elected officials, he stood alone. All 4 commissioners campaigned in favor of the bonds, which were overwhelmingly approved (2 - 1) by the voters.

Self wanted the county to use "pass through financing" from TxDOT to finance large construction projects, leaving the cities to pay for their own smaller secondary road improvements. His plan was a bad idea then and was soon proven to be a very, very bad idea, when not long after the election, the state killed the whole "pass through" program.

The Dallas Morning News, in an editorial after the election wrote, "Rookie Collin County Judge Keith Self was selling nonsense with his campaign to defeat a ballot proposition for road building. Voters, to their credit, weren't buying."

Earlier this year, he took his libertarian anti-transportation message to Austin where he was roundly castigated by several Texas Senators, including some from his own party for misrepresenting the Local Option Transportation Tax bill. Fellow Republican Senator John Carona of Richardson told Self that, "it seems to me that you do a disservice to the community by sending out the missives you've sent out before you even knew or understood what the bill said.... It is especially tragic that in a progressive part of the state like Collin County that this [Self] would represent the future leadership of the county."

Once again, the Dallas Morning News editorialized on Self's performance, calling it the "Keith Self side show", the News wrote, "Collin County Judge Keith Self has opposed bond elections to build roads, accused regional leaders of socialism and made fighting a bill that would give people the right to vote on rail expansion his top legislative priority. This week, he took his mischaracterizations of a rail expansion plan directly to the source, testifying before a Senate panel."

Last week, Judge Self stunned commissioners and court watchers with 2 presentations - both carrying the message to STOP road planning and construction.

In the first presentation, which was at the County Toll Road Authority portion of the meeting, Judge Self, speaking of the proposed Outer Loop, told the court that they should not be in a hurry to proceed with a $563,000 engineering study for Segment 3 because, as he said, "there is no hurry". Commissioners Jaynes, Ward and Hoagland disagreed. Jaynes pointed out that delay would cost the taxpayers $90,000/day in increased costs on the entire $4 billion Outer Loop program.

After an hour long discussion of engineering contract costs, property values and traffic projections, the court over-ruled Self's objections, voting to approve the contract 3 - 2. Commissioner Matt Shaheen voted along with Keith Self not to approve.

Despite Keith Self's objections, the county will continue to try to expedite the construction of the Outer Loop.

Later, in a heated discussion over projects to be assigned to the county's new citizen's Efficiency Committee, Keith Self, again supported by Matt Shaheen, floated the idea to stop this year's rural road asphalting program at 50 miles.

In 2004, the county committed to paving all 763 miles of county-maintained dirt roads within 10 years. The year to year goal has been to asphalt at least 50 miles per year - and every year, the county has exceeded its goal. This year, the public works department is on track to complete 70 miles.

Judge Self wants the county to stop paving at 50 miles and to warehouse the inventory of asphalt aggregate for next year. His reasoning is that the county would save money next year, because it would not have to purchase as much road making aggregate next year, when budget crunches could be harder.

Once again, Judge Self wanted to stop road construction, saying "We want to be husbanding our assets for next year".

Jaynes retorted, "If stopped doing anything, we wouldn't spend anything!"

Shaheen went on to explain that the county had "excess" inventories of aggregate totaling about $1.5 to $2 million. If construction were to stop, these inventories would be carried over to next year, saving the need to purchase as much in FY 2010.

Jerry Hoagland pointed asked that if there were excess inventories, "why wouldn't we use it up now?".

Joe Jaynes reacted to Self's idea with shock and indignation exclaiming that, "To say that you're at 50 [miles] and you have to stop is just government control at its worst. We have 300 days of reserves. The sky is not falling. It's going to be tougher next year, quite probably in appraised value but its not like we're some county in West Texas. And to tell these guys to cap it at 50 [miles], when we can go further is just like some of this short-sightedness we are seeing in some of these other things. We're worried about today, and not looking at the future."

"Now is the time to be doing this", said Jaynes, "not stopping."

Later in the week, Jaynes sent an email to his supporters:

Subject: Upgrading our County Roads--Please Forward

Dear Friends,

In 2004, the Collin County Commissioners Court adopted a road asphalting policy which is to upgrade 50 miles of road from rock to asphalt annually. Since that time we have exceeded 50 miles almost every year. Some years we have asphalted up to 60-70 miles of county roads. Under this policy our Public Works budget has not increased and we have also lowered the tax rate.

Our county judge has placed on our September 28th agenda to discuss freezing the miles of roads to be asphalted at 50. In other words, even if we can upgrade 60-70 miles of roads per year we should stop at 50 and then go into a maintenance mode.

This new policy means that it will take several more years to have all of our county roads upgraded and it will also be more expensive to taxpayers as the price of materials continue to increase.

Please join me in convincing commissioners that we should continue to upgrade our county roads as efficiently as possible and that we do not need a cap on how many miles we can upgrade every year. Please send an email to commcourt@collincountytx.gov in support of the continued upgrading of our county roads.

Once all county roads are upgraded we can then save taxpayers almost $9 million annually in upgrade costs and have a very much improved quality of life for our rural citizens.

Thank you,
Joe Jaynes

Battle lines are being drawn.

Hoagland and Jaynes believe strongly that the future development of the county requires continued investment in the transportation infrastructure. So far Ward has voted with Jaynes and Hoagland.

Self, with some support from Matt Shaheen, has tried to slow or stop virtually every mobility project in the works.

As a leader of a county that desperately needs tens of billions of dollars for transportation investment, he seems nuttier than a Corsicana fruitcake.

Bill

Since the Victorian era, one measure of civilization has been, "do the trains run on time". In fact, the term, "the trains run on time" has long been a euphemism for competent leadership.

There is a certain sense of orderliness, of competence, that is gained from the confidence people have that what their society does, it does well. Therefore, governments that are capable of running efficient transportation infrastructure gain the respect of their citizens. Societies that can not seem to at least get the trains to run on schedule are derided as incompetent in all they do.

This last week, the Dallas region saw the opening of the first 3 mile leg of DART's new Green Line. The Green Line is expected to cost about $2 Billion and eventually run from the Carrollton area to Pleasant Grove.

There's one problem, though. After spending a decade on planning and $2 billion on building, DART can't figure out how to get its new trains downtown on time. According to the Dallas Morning News' Michael Lindenberger, the new Green Line trains have created a huge bottleneck downtown with the existing Red and Blue Line trains, causing DART engineers to constantly stop trains while waiting for the tracks in front to clear. A solution to the SNAFU seems beyond them.

The result - the whole Red, Green, and Blue schedules are no good any more - simply put, the trains do NOT run on time. They are late every day.

We suburbanites and exurbanites know that Collin County desperately needs a larger mass transit system.

We understand that we don't have the land to build bigger and bigger roads forever. We know that traffic tie-ups are costing billions, and will get worse. We know that automobiles are destroying the air we breathe. We know rail is expensive, yet necessary. But we can not escape the simple reality that -

Two billion dollars later, the trains don't run on time.

Bill

The Collin County Observer reported that the Collin County Commissioners Court named Bill Moore as one of their two appointees on the NTTA Board of Directors. Mr. Moore will replace Gary Base, who is leaving to serve a two year term in the federal government's Mutual Savings Association Advisory Commission.

Mr. Moore is active in the Plano Sunrise Rotary Club and is the Republican Party's precinct chair in Plano's precinct 138.

According to a document given to the Observer by county officials:

William Moore is owner of W Moore Project Consultants, Inc. in Plano and a registered professional engineer. He works primarily with manufacturing companies managing engineering and capital investment projects. He also conducts Resource Conservation workshops and audits for the food and beverage manufacturing industry internationally and in the USA. Previously, he worked in consumer products manufacturing in Engineering, Operations and Accounting management. He has been a senior manager with diverse responsibilities in engineering design, capital accounting, environmental compliance, real estate and international capital purchasing. He worked twenty-three years for Frito-Lay, Inc. Much of that time, he was located in their headquarters office at Legacy Park in Plano. Prior to Frito-Lay he was a manager in other manufacturing companies. He has lived in Plano for twenty-one years.

William. Moore has served on many boards and commissions in Collin County over the last 15 years. He is currently on the Collin County Planning Board and on the volunteer board for the Collin County Adventure Camp operated by the YMCA. He updated the Collin County Mobility Plan during his term as chairman of the Planning Board. He served many years on the Collin County Parks Board and lead the development of the Collin County Parks and Opens Space Master Plan. He has chaired or served on citizen boards for each of the bond elections held in Collin County over the last decade and served on the Plano Building Standards Commission. He is an active member of Rotary International.

Mr. Moore is a native Texan, born in Bryan, Texas. He grew up in San Antonio. He received a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and is a Registered Professional Engineer in Texas and Oklahoma.

Bill

Today, I received an email from the North Central Texas Council of Governments asking my opinion on how they were doing communicating the decision making process on transportation and air quality.

Survey: NCTCOG Transportation Department Communication & Outreach Strategies

Let us know how we're doing and share your ideas.

The NCTCOG Transportation Department would like to effectively educate North Texans, seek input and involve residents in the transportation and related air quality decision-making process.

Go to www.nctcog.org/outreach to complete a brief survey about our communication and outreach strategies. It will take less than 5 minutes. Results will be used to evaluate and revise communication and outreach plans. Please complete the survey by Friday, Sept. 4.

They got my opinion. For what its worth, I replied:

"Every public meeting I've attended seemed designed to justify COG activities - not to listen to public input.

The public should be heard by the decision makers - not staff. At least one board member or Senior COG official should be in attendance at every public meeting.

The RTC and other committees should take record votes on all items dealing with money. The votes should then be published in the minutes.

....and how about some real transparency? Your budgets, audits and checkbooks should be online. Grant awards should be listed online.

You need to remember that you are funded with tax dollars. Your actions must always be open and transparent."

COG's email ended with:

"Please forward this e-mail to anyone who would be interested in learning more about transportation news."

"If you did not receive this e-mail directly, sign up at www.nctcog.org/transcomm to receive future public meeting notices and other transportation news."

I hope our readers will consider this as a forwarded request to tell the NCTCOG what you think of the agency's communications and openness.

You can access the survey directly at www.nctcog.org/outreach

Bill

On Monday, representatives from the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) provided the Collin County commissioners with a regional update on the Outer Loop.

Sometimes it seems that local officials, in their desire to get their Outer Loop constructed, forget that "our" Outer Loop is just a small part of a planned much larger highway (Loop 9) girding the entire DFW Metroplex.

Collin County officials see the Outer Loop as a vitally needed thoroughfare that is essential to the future growth and mobility in the county. Impatient with the progress of the region in getting construction underway, the commissioners formed the Collin County Toll Road Authority to plan and construct the piece of Loop 9 that is in Collin County. The commissioners have already begun acquiring the land and commissioning the engineering studies needed.

In going it alone, the commissioners could be taking big risks. One risk is, "Can the county finance a $4 billion dollar road?". Another is that there is no guarantee that NCTCOG will be willing to co-ordinate the rest of the loop with what might be seen as Collin County's own private toll road.

Both issues were addressed by Jeffery Neal, an engineer with NCTCOG.

Neal spent several minutes reviewing the status of NCTCOG's planning. His briefing made one thing obvious - whereas the county commissioners already know where they want the road (and they have gone so far as to buy and acquire the needed land), NCTCOG is not so sure. NCTCOG is still in the corridor evaluation phase and have not made any final ROW decisions yet, with the exception of a small length of road south east of Dallas.

A glance at the above planning map makes it clear that the regions engineers are considering several alternate routes through Collin County. Neal told the court that NCTCOG was even evaluating the idea of using US 380 as a northern leg of the loop.

However, Neal did tell the court that they should continue along the path they were on. He did not elaborate how the COG and county would reconcile any differences (if there are any) in the final plan NCTCOG will release in December.

Neal also told the commissioners court that COG, through the RTC would release $5 million of SH 121 toll (RTR) dollars to Collin County to help pay for the required environmental assessments needed. The county will have to pay approximately $1.25 million in matching funds for the environmental impact studies.

Neal and the commissioners then engaged in a discussion of how and under what rules the environmental studies would be done. The timeline just for the environmental work if don under local rules is about 18 months.

Neal also told the court that the RTC would release $12 million in RTR funds for the anticipated $15 million in acquisition costs to Phase 1 of the county's Outer Loop project. Phase 1 runs from US 75 to SH 121 just north of Mellisa. The county will probably seek a "Public Private Partnership" with a private company (or possibly NTTA) to construct the main lanes and operate Phase 1 as a toll road. The county would construct the non-tolled service roads, but most likely these would not be built until well after the toll lanes were open and getting revenue.

Bill

The NCTCOG presentation is here.

On Monday, Paul Wageman, the Chairman of the Board of NTTA and a Collin County appointee, along with fellow Collin County appointee Gary Base and Executive Director Allen Clemson gave their annual State of NTTA presentation to the Collin County Commissioners Court.

Clemson told the court that of the 1.7 million toll tags in use, about 600 thousand were used by Collin county residents. According to Clemson about 75% of toll road drivers were using toll tags. 20% were using the billing systems called "Zip Cash".

Clemson and Base briefed the court on the new rate hikes due to go into effect in September. Creatively describing the rate hike as a, "responsible and innovative tolling solution", the NTTA executives explained that rates would increase from 11 cents to 14 1/2 cents. They also told the court that henceforth tolls system-wide would increase by 2 1/2% every other year on odd numbered years.

Discussing tolls, Base told the court that there has been a drop off of toll customers due to the increased gasoline prices and unemployment. However he said that while the 'elasticity' of toll rates would cause a further drop off with the increased rates, but that lowering rates would not increase the number of drivers enough to increase revenue.

Describing one "Zip Cash" customer whose $8 tolls turned into $60+ worth of penalties and fees, Base told the court that, "they were looking into that to see if we can improve that as well, but usually those people are non-responders, they ignore the letters they get and everything like that. We hope to improve the educational level of them."

Toll revenue did not meet budgeted expectations in 2008. The 2008 budget expected $284.3 million, but only $261.7 million was collected.

Creative spin was the order of the day as NTTA explained away one issue after another with glib generalities.

On the recent Dallas Morning News charges that NTTA has done a poor job of awarding contracts to minority contractors, all the NTTA had to say was that they were committed to business diversity.

Mentioning the recent flood of wrong way crash fatalities on the DNT, Clemson told the court that NTTA, "had gone above and beyond the call of duty to respond to this." He also told the court that NTTA had made many prior changes to address the issue and that they have appointed a task force to study and make recommendations. The task force final report is due in September.

Meanwhile in order to improve safety, the NTTA will raise the speed limits to 70 mph on most of their toll roads except inner portions of the DNT.

Updating the status of the Sam Rayburn tollway, Clemson stated that phase 3 would open later this fall and that the phase 4 going past US 75 would open in 2011. The US 75 interchange is due to be completed in 2012.

Later in the meeting, the commissioners appointed Bill Moore to replace outgoing NTTA director Gary Base.

Bill

Spanish firm to receive $3.6 million after losing road project
By Gordon Dickson / Fort Worth Star Telegram

The Regional Transportation Council agreed Thursday to pay Spanish firm Cintra $3.6 million to cover costs the Spanish firm incurred before losing its bid for the Texas 121 toll road project, despite objections from some Denton County officials.

The road is now known as Sam Rayburn Tollway, and connects cities north and east of Grapevine such as Coppell, Carrollton and Plano.

Cintra, a publicly held firm known worldwide for building toll roads with private investment dollars, was conditionally awarded the toll project in Denton and Collin counties by the Texas Transportation Commission in February 2007. But under pressure from Dallas-area leaders, the state commission terminated that award in August 2007, allowing the Plano-based tollway authority to take the project.

During the seven months it held the project, Cintra incurred costs related to the federal TIFIA loan program, a stipend for unsuccessful work and other, unidentified post-bid costs, North Central Texas Council of Governments transportation director Michael Morris said.

Denton County Commissioner Andy Eads spoke against the payment, noting that Denton County wanted Cintra to keep the project. "For Denton County to now be looked at to remedy this is, in our opinion, inappropriate," Eads said.

Even so, the 40-member RTC approved the $3.6 million payment on a unanimous voice vote.

The money will come out of toll revenues generated on the tollway in these counties: Denton County, $1,961,063; Collin County $1,446,086; and Dallas County $253,065.

read more....

==================================

Bill comments:

If the RTC voted unanimously, as the article states, then Collin County's representatives on the RTC must have agreed to send our toll money to this Spanish company.

It doesn't seem right to use tax or toll revenue to pay the expenses of a losing bidder. The last Texas Legislature authorized this kind of payment. Previously such a transfer of public funds was illegal.

Your representatives on the RTC are:
Joe Jaynes, Collin County Commissioner, Pct 2
Paul Wagemen, NTTA Chairman (from Plano)
Lee Dunlap, Plano Deputy Mayor Pro Tem
Brian Loughmiller, McKinney Mayor
Maher Maso, Frisco Mayor

One on my chief complaints with the RTC is that they do not take record votes. I suspect that if each member had to attach his name to a proposal, they might be more careful what they vote 'yes' to.

Bill

NTTA poised to raise speed limits to 70 on toll roads

Friday, August 7, 2009
Michael Lindenberger / Dallas Morning New Transportation Blog

The executive director of NTTA told transportation insiders today that his board is likely to approve a staff proposal to raise speed limits on NTTA roads to 70 miles per hour.

The issue has been discussed for months, but an operations committee of the directors will hear a formal proposal Monday morning at 11:30. Clemson spoke at a meeting of the Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition.

read more....

=================================

Bill notes:

It will be interesting to see the effect of higher speed limits on Collin County revenue. At least one county JP court (Mike Yarbrough, Precinct 4) funnels a lot of toll road speeding ticket fines to the county's coffers.

Bill

The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) is charged with the operation of tollroads throughout Collin, Denton, Dallas and Tarrant Counties. According to its web site, NTTA is ",a political subdivision of the State of Texas under Chapter 366 of the Transportation Code, is empowered to acquire, construct, maintain, repair and operate turnpike projects; to raise capital for construction projects through the issuance of Turnpike Revenue Bonds; and to collect tolls to operate, maintain and pay debt service on those projects."

Governance of the NTTA is through a nine person Board of Directors. Each of the 4 member counties appoints a Director to staggered 2 year terms. The Governor also appoints one Director, who must reside in a county adjacent to the region. Many argue that since NTTA collects taxes (tolls) and can compel the payment of fines and fees, its Board should be elected, but in fact the legislation creating the NTTA prohibits elected officials from serving on its Board of Directors.

Collin County's two appointees are Paul Wageman and Gary Base. Both Mr. Wageman and Mr. Base are from Plano.

Mr. Wageman, who is serving his second term as President of the Board, is a partner in the law firm of Winstead PC. He was first appointed to NTTA's Board in 2000; his 5th term expires in 2010.

Gary Base

Gary Base is the President/CEO of ViewPoint Bank, and was a former trustee of the Plano ISD. His term also expires in 2010.

Last week's Commissioners Court Agenda included an item on NTTA for discussion in executive Session (secret meeting), "To deliberates the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee. NTTA Board." The executive session was postponed until next weeks meeting, but the Collin County Observer has learned that the subject of the meeting will be to discuss the appointment of a replacement for Mr. Base, who according to knowledgeable sources, wants to retire from the NTTA Board.

The Collin County Commissioners Court and the NTTA Board of Directors have had a tumultuous 2009. The court, unhappy with rumored plans that would have moved a portion of the future Dallas North Tollway extension into Denton County, reneged on an agreement with NTTA. The Commissioners then formed the Collin County Tollway Authority and attempted to take over the DNT extension, moving it well into Collin County.

The NTTA Board fought back. Using their connections in the Legislature, the NTTA wielded considerable muscle in sponsoring legislation that would have killed Collin County's ability not only to usurp the DNT, but also to build the Outer Loop or other toll projects. Appearing in a Senate committee, Wageman charged that, "Judge Self and the commissioners have had on their agendas, at least twice over the last few months, essentially court orders to issue contracts on elements [DNT] of our system that are either owned entirely by the NTTA or under contractual arrangements."

The Collin County appointees to the NTTA Board were actively supporting the board's regional outlook - not the county's.

Collin County and especially Judge Keith Self came under withering criticism from members of the legislature. At one point, Senator Carona told Self, "I don't think Collin County plays nice lately. I don't think they have a regional concern, but only for provincial Collin County".

While the county did retain its ability to construct their portion of the Outer Loop, the commissioners are very concerned that the next legislature could severely restrict their authority to build or operate tollroads. The commissioners need the NTTA on their side, if they are to be allowed to maintain their own county toll authority co-existent with the much more powerful NTTA.

Mr. Base's retirement gives the commissioners their first opportunity since the dispute to directly affect the makeup of NTTA's Board. They will get their second chance next summer, when Paul Wageman's term expires.

Given the animosity that has existed between NTTA and the county, it seems that the commissioners would seize the opportunity to further their goals of developing an independent county toll authority by appointing directors who share the court's parochial inability to focus on the good of the region as a whole. That would be a mistake.

The transportation needs of Collin County absolutely require regional solutions. We are not an island.

Bill

======
UPDATE August 9, 2009

On Friday, The Dallas Morning News' Michael Lindenberger confirmed that Gary Base would be stepping down from the NTTA board.

Transportation blog: Report slams NTTA's minority contracting practices

...the report represents something of a black eye for NTTA, which has long dealt with an image that it is run for and by upper income elites in Collin County, where its headquarters are.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009
By MICHAEL LINDENBERGER and KEVIN KRAUSE / The Dallas Morning News

The North Texas Tollway Authority has done a poor job in awarding contracts to minority or women-owned businesses, a report by a consultant examining the firms paid between 2002 and 2007 reveals.

The report, presented to an NTTA committee Monday morning, shows that in those five years 97 percent of all contracts awarded went to firms owned by white males. Those 22,347 contracts totaled just under $1 billion.

A lot of NTTA's work goes to giant firms, where the available pool of minority contractors are limited. But the report shows that NTTA's work went to non-minority firms, even when the jobs were smaller.

Of the $20.2 million worth of construction contracts that were worth $500,000 or less each, only 1.9 percent of that money went to African-American firms. About 5.6 percent of the funds went to firms owned by Hispanics...

All public agencies are under pressure to be inclusive in the way they spend tax money -- or in NTTA's case, toll money. We'll be checking with DART and TxDOT to see how they fare...

Meanwhile, the report represents something of a black eye for NTTA, which has long dealt with an image that it is run for and by upper income elites in Collin County, where its headquarters are. But the agency has changed significantly in the past two years -- spending much more money, for instance, and expanding its board to include nine members, rather than five. NTTA's board has one African American member, Alan Sims.

read more....

Notes:

The Consultant's report

Is it a surprise that NTTA, saddled with huge multi-billion dollar debts after purchasing the concession for SH 121 needs to raise money?

Could it be that NTTA would want to raise funds by imposing large, onerous, and seemingly arbitrary fines and fees on Texas drivers? Could these large fees (up to $25 for every toll gantry passed) create a voter backlash?

Now some board members at NTTA are coming to their senses and realizing that by 'sticking it' to local drivers, they are sowing the wind. They are not afraid of the local citizens - after all the NTTA Board of Directors is not elected, but they are afraid of the Texas Legislature.

Could it be that enough pissed off voters might persuade their legislators to serve up a whirlwind of regulations, a whirlwind sown by the excesses of NTTA?

Michael Lindenberger writes in yesterday's Transportation Blog at the Dallas Morning News:

"Turns out, it's not just the drivers I've been hearing from who think the charges NTTA imposes for unpaid [tolls] are ridiculous. So do at least some of the board members who run NTTA.

This morning at a finance committee hearing, vice chairman Victor Vandergriff said flatly the exorbitant fines simply can't be continued.

'I don't see how these fees can survive at this level. I don't see how they can survive,' he told staff members who were presenting an overview of the system for fines imposed on missed payments. NTTA's approach, Vandergriff said, needs to be 'simple and consistent and not outrageous. Speaking from my own business perspective, we (in the auto sales industry) get slammed for excessive fees, so do the banks. I just don't see how this can survive.'

Committee chairman Gary Base [a Collin County appointee] said, 'Do we really need to charge these amazing fees? Is that how we are paying our bills?'

In a word, yes. NTTA staff members replied that its budget for 2010 assumes some $26 million in 'other revenue,' -- the lion's share of which comes from fees such as those imposed on late toll payers.

Finding a kinder, gentler way of collecting unpaid tolls is all well and good, some staff members suggested, but the board will need to think about how to replace those funds. Most of NTTA's revenue goes to debt payments. In the first half of this year, the agency has spent about $29.7 on operating expenses, and another $9.2 million on administrative costs.

Finding $20 million or more in fees would be difficult. On the other hand, executive director Allen Clemson said if NTTA doesn't do a better job with an easier to understand system of fines, lawmakers may step in and fix the problems themselves. 'We feel if we don't do a better job explaining things, then our partners in Austin may well intervene and explain it for us,' he said."

In an article written on July 1, Lindenberger explained the arithmetic of the NTTA's fees:

"How do you turn an $80 bill into a $2,000 monkey on your back?

Spend two weeks using the North Texas Tollway Authority's growing network of toll roads, then ignore your bills for as little as 45 days, and you're likely to find out.

As it prepares to raise toll rates next month, NTTA has increased its efforts to collect the money it is owed by drivers who use its roads without a toll tag, and then refuse to pay or simply ignore bills sent to their homes.
To encourage them to pay up, the agency tacks on a $25 fee for every toll transaction that isn't paid after 45 days and two notices. With a typical one-way trip on a toll road involving several toll transactions, those fines can quickly turn two weeks of toll use into a four-figure affair."

The 'fees' are civil penalties, but failure to pay them is a criminal offense, as over twelve thousand local drivers have found out after Collin County JP courts issued warrants for their arrest.

Let the whirlwind begin.

Bill

North Texas Tollway Authority OKs rate hike

Friday, July 17, 2009
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News

Come September, everyone in North Texas will pay more to drive, not just the toll road users whose rates are about to rise sharply.

Thursday's decision by the North Texas Tollway Authority to raise tolls across its system beginning Sept. 1 will mean that TollTag users will pay, on average, 14.5 cents per mile. Current toll charges typically average about 11 cents per mile.

The extra pennies can add up. For customers with a TollTag, a commute from Frisco to downtown Dallas on the Dallas North Tollway will now cost $43 a week, instead of $31.50.

For those without a TollTag, the bill jumps from $43.70 to $65.90.

Those higher bills will drive some toll road users off its roads, NTTA officials said Thursday – a sentiment reflected loudly in dozens of comments made to The Dallas Morning News' Web site. That means traffic on North Texas' already clogged free roads is going to get more congested. Everyone will pay more, in terms of gas and time, to get from one place to another.

NTTA board members voted 8-1 to support the toll increase, which staff had insisted was necessary to satisfy agreements NTTA struck with creditors who have lent the agency about $6 billion.

"This organization lives off of borrowed money," said board member Gary Base of Collin County, who leads the finance committee and supported the increase. "This is not money that we have. And we as a board have fiduciary responsibility to these debt holders."

Board member Bob Day, a Dallas County appointee, voted no. Day tried to persuade his colleagues to phase the increase in over two years, but staff warned that doing so would cost the agency about $14 million in revenue. The board rejected Day's proposal 7-2.

And it guaranteed that rates will continue to rise, approving a measure that would trigger automatic 6 percent rate increases every two years – without the need for another board vote.

Board member Ken Barr, former mayor of Fort Worth, said more frequent, smaller rate increases will be easier to accept in the future.

"One of the reasons we are faced with this large increase today is that increases haven't come often enough in the past," Barr said.

NTTA has raised rates only five times previously, and before Thursday's vote, its policy was to change rates every five years.

Chairman Paul Wageman, a Collin County appointee, said the agency has been asked to build billions of dollars worth of toll roads, in part because lawmakers have refused to raise gasoline taxes to build additional free roads.

"For too long NTTA has hid its light under the bushel and not appropriately charged for the services it provides," Wageman said.

Before Thursday's decision, however, NTTA had already raised tolls recently. In addition, rates on the Sam Rayburn Tollway had already been set higher than rates on its other roads.

What's the rush?

So why the sudden rush to raise rates again, and by so much?

NTTA officials at first billed the increase as a necessary response to keep lenders happy. NTTA owes some $6 billion, and its bond covenants require its revenues be at least 1.5 times the agency's soaring debt payments. Without a rate increase, NTTA's revenues would fall below that level soon.

That's because traffic has not lived up to projections on its newest road, Rayburn Tollway (State Highway 121), and because traffic elsewhere is also lagging expectations. In addition, NTTA is having trouble collecting tolls owed on its all-electronic toll roads, and fewer customers are signing up for TollTags than NTTA had hoped.

read more....

=========================================

Bill Comments:

This was an entirely predictable outcome of overpaying for the SH 121 concession.

TXDOT and the local RTC were greedy, wanting billions in "upfront money" that forced NTTA to borrow heavily to obtain local control over our local road.

The NTTA paid over $3.2 billion to complete and operate a road that at the time the decision was made to go with a CDA, the construction was estimated to cost only $325 million to complete.

Drivers will pay over $5 billion in tolls before NTTAs contract expires. That's $5 billion in tolls for a road that cost $325 million.

Note you will be paying over $4.5 billion in excess taxes just for one road - and the contract with TXDOT allows NTTA to raise tolls from the current 11 cents/mile to over 25 cents per mile.

But the bond holders will be happy!

The lesson here is that CDAs are poor public policy. Only the financiers make money when highways are pawned for huge cash down payments.

Tolls will continue to climb until the citizens demand that traditional bonds or more conventional "pay as you go" toll financing is used to construct new roads.

Bill

Congress is working on reauthorizing the "Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users" (SAFETEA-LU) which is the Federal Government's primary road and surface transportation legislation - in other words it's the big road and bridge bill.

As part of the congressional committee process, congressmen are able to request funding for local "high priority" projects. (Otherwise known as earmarks)

In this congressional session, the City of McKinney appears to be the big winner of earmark requests. All Collin County projects requested by our area congressmen were in the McKinney area. The six McKinney earmarks totaled over $146 million.

Congressman Sam Johnson (TX-3 Rep.)

Of the $147,577,077 Congressman Sam Johnson identified as transportation "high priority projects" or earmarks, all but $29,396,736 is earmarked for McKinney area highways. Johnson earmarked five projects, one in Dallas and the four in McKinney.

US75 (Central Expressway) McKinney
Amount Requested: $$77,076,480
Plan, design, engineer and conduct environmental review for the construction of an eight-lane divided urban freeway with HOV lanes and frontage roads along US 75 from SH 121 to US 380. Proposed recipient of funding: TxDOT

US380 McKinney
Amount Requested: $14,383,861
Widening of US 380 to a six-lane divided roadway from east of Custer Road to east of Lake Forest Drive. Proposed recipient of funding: TxDOT

SH5 McKinney
Amount Requested: $22,720,000
Widening of State Highway 5 from US 380 to FM 543. The road will be widened from two to four lanes. Proposed recipient of funding: City of McKinney

SH5 McKinney
Amount Requested: $4,000,000
Improvements on State Highway 5 between FM 546 and US 380. Project components may include the construction of a median, improved traffic signals, sidewalks, crosswalks and street design. Proposed recipient of funding: City of McKinney

Congressman Ralph Hall (TX-4 Rep.)

Congressman Ralph Hall's 4th Congressional District wends its way from eastern Collin County all the way to Texarkana. Hall has requested a total of $140,017,610 for his six "high priority" mobility projects. Only one of the six are in Collin County, and you guessed it, it's in McKinney.

FM2478 (Custer Road) McKinney
Amount Requested: $27,040,000
This project involves the widening of FM 5478 (Custer Road) in McKinney from US380 to FM1461. The road will be widened from existing two-lane rural road to a four-lane with a median which will reduce collisions and improve safety for vehicles and pedestrians. The population of McKinney and surrounding areas has been increasing in recent years. Traffic volume on FM2478 was 5,340 vehicles per day in 2008, it is estimated that in 2013 the number will increase to 8,700 per day.

Bill

The Collin County Commissioners Court is meeting in a 'Special Session' tonight at 6:00PM in Wylie City Hall.

While the commissioners frequently bemoan the fact that citizen attendance at these special evening sessions are sparse, three items on the agenda will likely cause a number of taxpayers to attend.

Last month, the commissioners, acting as the Health Care Trust Fund Trustees placed an item on their agenda that would add more grant restrictions to the nonprofit indigent clinics. The restrictions would require the clinics to only be paid to serve those whose incomes fall below 100% of the federal poverty line (approx. $20,020/yr for a family of 4).

After the Collin County Observer and many citizens objected to the proposed new rules, in part because there was no chance for citizen input, the commissioners voted to postpone consideration until this evening's meeting.

The county presently doles out a total of about $200,000/yr to 9 nonprofit organizations that operate clinics or health care services for the poor in the county. For the last 2 years, the grant funding has been reduced from the $300,000 high granted in 2007.

The county is required by law and the Texas Constitution to be the "provider of last resort" for the indigent, and to meet those requirements, the county operates a "County Indigent Health Care Program (CIHCP) The restrictions for entry into CIHCP are stringent, requiring a 19 page application and verification of all income, assets and insurability. In fact the restrictions are so severe that in 2008, only 207 Collin County applicants were approved for CIHCP.

Collin County also funds a program that allows uninsured citizens whose incomes are below 100% of FPL to get primary care at any PrimaCare clinic for a $20 copay. For fiscal 2009, the county has budgeted $300,000 for the PrimaCare program. In fiscal 2008, the county paid for over 2,300 low income patient visits to PrimaCare.

The third county indigent health care program is the grants (now called "fee for service") to the nonprofit clinics. In 2009, the county paid these clinics from $25 to $50 for each qualified patient seen. For the first half of FY 2009, the county has paid the 9 clinics about $72,000 in the Fee for Service program. These clinics see hundreds of patients every week.

Prior to 2007, the county simply awarded a specific dollar amount grant to the nonprofits based on their needs and request. In 2007 however, the county changed from a grant to a fee basis. The county requires each clinic to report the name, address, last 4 digits of the Social Security number and a diagnosis code for each patient for whom the clinic is asking for county funding.

Most nonprofits strenuously objected to the 2007 changes, citing increased workload and patient confidentiality. Two of the clinics subsequently refused county funding because of patient confidentiality concerns.

Presently, the nonprofit clinics set their own admission and fee schedules. Most require that patients seeking low cost care only be uninsured, and not eligible for public health care assistance. The 2010 county proposal would force the clinics to change their admission criteria and to document income.

Supporters of the clinics note that the nonprofits provide the most economical health care service available to uninsured residents. While the county pays $210 to PrimaCare? for each patient visit, it only gives the nonprofit clinics between $35 and $50 for each visit.

In 2005, the Commissioners Court appointed a 25 member citizen task force to study the need for indigent health care programs. That committee met for over 18 months and issued its report in 2006. One key recommendation by the task force was to increase the grants program to nonprofits to between $500,000 and $800,000. The task force noted that while the CIHCP attempted to serve the hard core indigent, the clinics were serving the 'working poor' - those who because of the rising cost of insurance were not able to afford health care, even though they worked.

Also on the court's agenda for tonight is a request by Catholic Charities to open a "Homeless Prevention" office in Collin County. The office would attempt to help those recently unemployed, underemployed and families who were in imminent danger of becoming homeless. The Catholic Charity operation would be run at no cost to the county or taxpayers as it is funded by the United Way and federal and state grants. The program would provide over $1 million in benefits to the 9 county region.

State funding through the Texas Department of Housing requires that the local counties served give formal approval to allow the opening of the local office. Twice now, the commissioners' court has declined to approve the Catholic Charities request. Instead the court has asked for more information.

Some on the court have, in the past, expressed reservations on allowing federal, state or charitable funds to be spent on the poor in the county fearing that as The Dallas Morning News reported in 2005 on Commissioner Hoagland's concern, "he worries the grants will cause more homeless people to move to Plano. He said many problems in Dallas and other cities can be attributed to the homeless population." The DMN also reported that "he said the goal of trying to end homelessness is too large. He said the homeless have always been around and always will be."

In 2005 the issue was using federal dollars to fund apartments and a case manager for up to 8 mentally ill patients who would otherwise be homeless and unsupervised.

I hope that attitude is not what is holding up the Catholic Charities request.

The third item on tonight's agenda is to consider moving the alignment of the south-eastern leg of the Outer Loop. The part of the loop in question is between SH 6 and the Rockwall county line. The county staff sand consultants are recommending that a section be moved to avoid impacting the High Meadow Estates project in Josephine. The proposed realignment will reduce the number of residential properties that would be lost to the new road.

Both the proposal and the current alignment will adversely impact a number of homes.

Bill

KRLD radio reports -

Inmates To Help Clear Storm Mess on Collin County Roads

It'll take quite a while to pick up Collin County's big mess, with debris and tree limbs strewn widely north of McKinney?. Public Works director John Jon Kleinheksel says it might take weeks to put things right again because nearly four dozen country roads have damage, some of it minimal and some of it severe. The biggest impact is on rural county roads in a swath from Celina, through Weston and over to Anna. At the worst of the storm, 18 Collin County roads were closed because of debris or flooding. Some of the clean-up work may be done by county jail inmates allowed on work crews to earn credit for early release.

link to story....

The Texas Legislature adjourned sine die tonight without passing sunset legislation for several major Texas agencies, including TxDOT.

Buried in the TxDOT sunset bill was a provision cobbled from another failed bill that would have prohibited new contracts for red light cameras. Since the sunset bill (HB300) did not survive, the Governor will almost certainly have to call the legislature into special session.

A few Collin County cities presently use these red light cameras. Frisco opted to let their contract run without renewal. Had HB300 passed, the cameras in Frisco would have shut down.

Plano however choose to renew its contract. Plano's new contract with its vendor runs through 2012.

Critics of the red light cameras charge that their main purpose is to raise money for cash strapped cities while defenders cite statistics showing lower collision rates at intersections with the cameras.

Efforts to prohibit red light cameras have been unsuccessful in previous legislative sessions. In an effort to avoid abuse, the legislature in 2007, enacted new, more stringent rules for cameras, capped fines and split net revenues between the state and cities.

Regardless of the arguments, unless a special session adds a ban on these cameras, they will be legal at least until the next legislative session in 2011.

Bill

DART, The T want to partner with private companies to fund Cotton Belt Rail Line

Friday, May 22, 2009
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER/ The Dallas Morning News

DART and Fort Worth’s The T want to partner with private companies to build a 68-mile passenger rail line that would stretch from Fort Worth to the airport to Addison to Plano and onto Richardson, with service beginning as soon as 2013.

The unusual partnership with private firms would speed up the long-planned project known as the Cotton Belt Rail Line. DART has planned to build portions of the Cotton Belt for years, but its current financial plans allocate no money to do so until 2027. Agency officials said Friday that private firms’ involvement could speed construction by 15 years or more, and that some services on the new line could open within four years.

“This is new territory for us and for a lot of people,” Lyons said. “So we wanted to send this request out to see who is interested.”

Public-private partnerships have become more common in Texas in recent years, as Gov. Rick Perry has pushed their involvement as a way to fast-track the building of toll roads throughout the state. Private companies are set to rebuild LBJ Freeway and the Southwest Parkway in Fort Worth, for instance.

But that approach has only rarely been used for other types of major transportation infrastructure — and all but non-existent among American transit agencies. A proposal to privatize Midway Airport in Chicago fizzled earlier this year, and their use in passenger rail lines has been extremely rare within the United States.

Still, DART has been studying the approach for more than a year, and is using a watered-down version of public-private partnership to hasten the completion of the Orange Line to Irving. That approach, called a design-build agreement, allows a private company to bid on both the design and construction phases of a contract at once, with the result that the project can be completed more quickly but with less oversight by the public entity.

But what the agencies have in mind for the Cotton Belt is far more aggressive, and would involve private firms investing in, and operating at least for a time, rail lines in a way that remains extraordinarily rare in this country. That’s partly because unlike toll roads, rail lines aren’t profitable without enormous public subsidies.

In general, DART is hoping that a private form will agree to build and operate the rail line between now and 2027, when DART and The T would have their own money to take over both capital and operations cost. One idea for how to compensate the private companies — in addition to given them fare revenue — is to share with them some of the property tax revenue generated by the new development expected along the line.

An open-house on the project has been scheduled for June 12 at 9 a.m. at DART’s Union Station in Dallas.

The three segments of the rail line include:

• Segment 1: This line extends from the airport to downtown Carrollton, moving east from Carrollton to connect with DART's Red Line Bush Turnpike Station. It would connect with the DART Green Line and perhaps the proposed Denton rail line. This line would serve DART member cities Farmers Branch, Addison, Dallas, Richardson and Plano, according to DART.

• Segment 2: This begins at Sycamore School Road southwest of Fort Worth, and would continue along the Fort Worth & Western Railroad corridor toward downtown Fort Worth, DART said. It would connect with the TRE commuter rail line service at the T&P Station.

• Segment 3: This would extend north from downtown Fort Worth’s ITC Station, and include stations in Haltom City, North Richland Hills, Colleyville, Grapevine and the D/FW International Airport.

read more....

HOV-related deaths rise to 6; TxDOT dismissed warnings

Thursday, May 7, 2009
By DAVID SCHECHTER / WFAA-TV

NEWS 8 INVESTIGATES

DALLAS - An expanding News 8 investigation has uncovered more HOV-related deaths.

In little than over two years, crashes on Interstate 635 killed three motorists. That makes a total of six dead when added to the three fatalities News 8 uncovered on Central Expressway.

The Texas Department of Transportation was fully warned about dangerous roadway designs but did little or nothing to make them safer.

Franco Miramontes wishes they had.

A year-and-a-half ago, the 24-year-old was legally riding his motorcycle in the HOV lane on I-635. According to police reports, he was doing about 70 mph when a driver in the main lanes crossed over and nearly killed him. Miramontes is now a quadriplegic.

"They need to do something about the HOV lanes," said Rosemary Miramontes, Franco's mother.

Three years before Miramontes' crash, TxDOT's top managers received an HOV safety report, and the information inside was damning. It showed the HOV lanes on I-635 and I-35 were jeopardizing driver safety. What might have been a call to action for Texas Department of Transportation was instead disregarded.

The report was commissioned by TxDOT and conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute. It compared eight years of crash data on the two interstates.

Before adding an HOV lane, there was an average of 263 crashes a year where someone was injured on I-635. After the lane was built that number rose to 396 crashes a year. That’s a crash-rate increase of 41 percent.

On the I-35 Corridor, there was an average of 85 injury crashes a year before the HOV lane. After the lane was added, that number rose to 169 a year. That’s a 56 percent increase.

So, what did the top man at TxDOT's local office do in the face of an obvious threat to public safety? Virtually nothing was done.

"When you got that information did you go back to try make some changes to improve safety?” reporter David Schechter asked District Engineer Bill Hale.

"We looked to see what needed to be done," said Bill Hale, the district engineer, when asked about what was done when that information was received. "We watched it. But, the locations that we saw that had problems, I guess we haven't had a lot of changes on the thing."

He said TxDOT did ask DART police to write more tickets to drivers who break the law.

However, some of the report's findings were even worse. Before the HOV lane was added, the lane now closest to the HOV lane on I-35 had an average of 17 injury crashes a year. After the lane was added that number went up to 43. That’s a 153 percent increase in injury crashes.

On the I-635 Corridor, an average of 52 injury crashes happened a year in that lane before the HOV was added. After the HOV, that number rose to 150, which is a crash-rate increase of 188 percent.

"You look at each year how it goes," Hale said. "You keep monitoring that to see if they're going down. And they're not staying steady; they've gone down as people got used to it."

News 8 reviewed hundreds of crash reports and found on in 2007 on I-635 there were at least three motorists who died in HOV-related crashes. One crash was a double fatality. Driver error played a role in those crashes, but design may have as well.

In many locations, TxDOT squeezed in HOV lanes by shrinking the shoulders down from an optimal 14 feet down to two feet. That leaves very little room for a driver to evade a crash. Now, add real world conditions. If traffic is clear on the HOV lane, the main lanes are moving slow. When a fast vehicle hits a slow one, it's like hitting a brick wall. That's what happened to Miramontes.

When TxDOT commissioned the safety study it was considering a new HOV project on Central Expressway. The report made "absolute minimum" recommendations that would make Central Expressway safer than I-35 and I-635.

But, as News 8 has previously reported, TxDOT disregarded those recommendations. Now, major crashes on Central are up 30 percent and three motorists have died.

read more...

It been impossible for me to post anything this week. We've had family in from out of town, and my evenings have been full.

I would have wrote more on these if I had the time:

Collin County vs. Collin County Auditor.

Our readers will remember that after losing both suits against their auditor, the county commissioners filed a notice of appeal with the Texas 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas. They were due to file their brief last month, but instead asked for an extension that expired on April 15. On the 13th, the commissioners asked for an additional extension - until April 29.

In their first extension request, the commissioners explained that they needed the extension because they were actively involved in mediation with the auditor, and that any agreement would have to be voted on in an open meeting.

It's probably safe to assume that the untimely death of Homer Reynolds, the auditor's lead attorney, has slowed any negotiations.

I note that the agenda for Monday afternoon's Commissioners Court workshop includes an executive session (secret meeting) to discuss the case. I doubt that the court will be able to take any action at a workshop, but I suspect that if there is to be a settlement it will be decided at the scheduled April 27th meeting of the commissioners court.

The Local Option Transportation District bill:

After Keith Self's dismal performance at the Texas Senate hearing on SB 855 last month, the Senate Transportation Committee passed Senator Carona's bill that would allow voters in several Texas suburban counties to call an election to vote on creating a mass transportation district that could levy taxes.

Almost all of the counties in suburban areas in the state have been very supportive of the bill which was passed by the entire Senate on April 14 on a 29-9 roll call vote.

The House version of the bill is styled as HB 9. The House Transportation Committee has scheduled a public hearing on HB 9 for this Tuesday, April 21. Unlike the Senate Transportation & Homeland Security Committee which Senator Florence Shapiro is a member, there are no Collin County representatives are on the House Transportation Committee.

Most agree that passage of the bill in the House will be much more difficult than in the Senate. However, it is expected to pass.

I do not know if Judge Self is planning on attending Tuesday's committee hearing. The Commissioners Court is scheduled to discuss HB 9 and other legislative priorities at Monday's workshop.

Bill

The Collin County Observer offered its analysis on the Lake Lavon bridge issue back on March 17.

Today, The Dallas Morning News' local reporter, Ed Housewright adds to the discussion.

Bill

===============================================

Bridge plan disrupts calm of Lavon Lake

Sunday, April 19, 2009
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News

Todd and Kay Nordby hope to build a retirement home on Lavon Lake and enjoy a serene view of the water.

They don't want to look at a hulking six-lane bridge.

Yet the Nordbys fear momentum is building for a bridge to span the lake's southern tip and ease east-west travel. They began a Web site last month that warns of the bridge's impact.

"Our mission: preserve the peace and tranquility of Lake Lavon, its parks, equestrian trails, camp grounds, fishing, swimming, boating, picnic and recreational areas," the Web site says.

Collin County commissioners recently approved a $367,000 engineering contract to determine the bridge alignment. It's likely to skirt the Nordbys' property on the peninsula of the lake, located about 30 miles northeast of Dallas.

However, commissioners assure property owners that bridge construction probably wouldn't begin for more than 15 years.

"Any type of bridge is years and years and years away," said Commissioner Joe Jaynes, whose district includes the lake's western shore.

Officials say they need to identify an alignment and begin acquiring right of way because of the county's breakneck growth. Currently, the only east-west bridge across the entire lake is U.S. Highway 380, about seven miles north.

"This is a planning effort," said Commissioner Jerry Hoagland, whose district includes the eastern shore. "I don't think there's a need for a bridge today, very candidly, but I do think we'll need one when the eastern part of Collin County gets built out."

The project, estimated to cost at least $150 million, would consist of two bridges.

One would begin on the lake's western shore in Lucas and connect to the narrow peninsula extending south from Princeton. The second bridge would stretch from the peninsula to the lake's eastern shore, ending north of Lavon.

The entire distance of both bridges and the peninsula roadway is about eight miles.

The Nordbys dispute the need for another east-west connector, even years from now. They point out the county's eastern side is far less populated than the west, which includes Allen, Frisco, McKinney and Plano.

"Most people like the remoteness and undeveloped nature," Kay Nordby said.

The Save Lake Lavon Web site, savelakelavon.com, already has attracted heavy traffic, Todd Nordby said.

"In a short time, with very little PR, we have begun receiving offers of volunteer support and requests for information from citizens on Lake Lavon and surrounding communities," he said.

But not all lake residents oppose the bridge. Carla McCroan, who lives near Nevada on the east side, first proposed a bridge almost a decade ago because of growing traffic. She was serving on the Collin County Planning Board at the time.

"I've heard a lot of people say it [a bridge] would be a great thing," McCroan said.

The county plans to schedule public hearings within the next year on the proposed route for the bridges and peninsula roadway.

read more....

This morning at about 7:30, a motorcyclist reportedly tried to illegally enter the southbound Central Expressway HOV at Campbell Rd. in Richardson.

He was struck from behind by a gold Infiniti traveling in the HOV lane. As was to be expected, the Infiniti won the fight for the lane.

The motorcyclist survived, and was transported to the hospital. I have no word on his condition.

This is the second motorcycle vs. automobile accident in 2 weeks on Central. Both were caused by motorcycles trying to enter the HOV lane by steering between the barrier sticks.

Both caused major injuries.

And both caused major backups that included yours truly in the ensuing jam up.

It is amazing the both bikers survived. I'm afraid that more will have to die before enforcement becomes a reality and before the HOV lanes are redesigned.

Thank you Richardson City Council and all the local politicians who demanded a narrow 2 way HOV lane.

Bill

Critics say Collin County not being a team player; officials cite rapid growth for tough decisions

April 5, 2009
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News

If Dallas County could be likened to a senior citizen living on a fixed income, then Collin County might be the energetic teen with a fast car and a trust fund.

It's envied by other North Texas counties and is well-known as one of the most affluent, fastest-growing counties in the nation.

"This is not the time to raise taxes."
Collin County Judge Keith Self

"I think you should honor your county's agreements."
Denton County Judge Mary Horn

"It's really tragic that this is sign of the future leadership of the community."
State Sen. John Carona (R-Richardson)

In recent months, however, some say Collin County is earning a new reputation, and not an enviable one.

"I don't think Collin County plays nice lately," said state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas. "I don't think they have a regional concern, but only for provincial Collin County."

The comments, made during a recent Senate hearing in Austin, are striking a chord with some who accuse the county of acting in its own interest at the expense of others. County officials have sparred with regional leaders as of late, mostly on transportation and health care issues.

Collin County officials reject the criticism, saying they're willing to help forge solutions to common problems. But they also make no apologies for putting Collin County first, citing rapid growth.

Since 2000, the county's population has swelled by almost 50 percent, and officials say that's forcing them to make tough decisions.

"We've changed more in the last five years than we had in the previous 20," Commissioner Joe Jaynes said.

Transportation bill

If there is grumbling about Collin County from its neighbors, it occurs quietly, and on a local level. But Carona's high-profile statements on March 18, directed at County Judge Keith Self, brought negative sentiments out in the open.

Self attended the Senate Transportation Committee hearing to speak against a bill that could establish new taxes to expand regional rail service.

More than 40 area cities and five counties passed resolutions in support of the measure, but Collin County did not.

Self said the county believed the bill would burden constituents with unnecessary taxes for rail service that would benefit few. (Collin County Commissioner Jerry Hoagland later spoke in favor of the bill.)

"This is not the time to raise taxes," Self said.

Carona railed against Self at the public hearing, saying he was not providing constructive input.

"You do a disservice to your community by sending missives out [to anti-tax groups] before you even understood what the bill was about," Carona said.
"It's really tragic that this is sign of the future leadership of the community."

The county's opposition to the rail bill is only the latest action on transportation to upset elected officials.

For instance, county commissioners recently backed out of a written agreement with Denton County to support a Dallas North Tollway extension along their joint border. They now want an alignment entirely in Collin County to receive taxes from development along the corridor.

That decision irked Denton County Judge Mary Horn, who said the county was reneging on a promise it made years ago.

"I think you should honor your county's agreements," she said.

In addition, the county angered the North Texas Tollway Authority by creating its own toll road agency. Commissioners have defended themselves by saying the need for a proposed 53-mile highway called the Outer Loop is so great that they can't wait on NTTA to build it.

Parkland hospital

County officials also continue to generate friction with Dallas County over Parkland Memorial Hospital, a sticking point in the past.

Collin County commissioners snubbed Dallas County's request to support a bill that would create a new hospital tax in suburban counties to help pay for using the Dallas hospital.

"I don't think our residents would ever support something like that," said Hoagland, the Collin commissioner. "Why should they? We don't have that many people going down there."

Collin County commissioners have irked officials in surrounding counties in the past year:

March 30 – Collin County Commissioner Kathy Ward testifies against a bill that could tax suburban counties for using Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

March 18 – State Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, publicly chastises Collin County Judge Keith Self for not having a "regional concern."

September 2008 – Collin commissioners create a county toll road authority, separate from North Texas Tollway Authority.

May 2008 – Collin commissioners rescind a 2005 agreement with Denton County to support a Dallas North Tollway extension along a joint border.

read more....

Last Sunday afternoon, my wife and I were traveling northbound on Central Expressway in Plano. We were heading to Allen, when I noticed that all traffic in front of us had stopped.

We were lucky that we were just at an off ramp. We escaped the gridlock, and went to lunch. Well over an hour and a half later, traffic was still stopped. I was told by one reader of this blog that he was stuck in the backup for over an hour.

When I asked the Plano Police Department what happened, a spokesperson sent me this remarkable picture.

A motorcycle had tried to enter the HOV lane and was struck from behind by a car. In the picture, you can see the double white line of the HOV lane. The car rode up on the bike, which never fell over. I was told that the motorcyclist ended up under the car. Miraculously, he survived.

I did not ask for the names of the drivers or injured nor their present condition.

Bill

Late Monday evening, the Texas House County Affairs Committee held a hearing on HB515.

HB515 was introduced by Reps. Allen Vaught and Carol Kent, both Dallas Democrats. The bill would allow citizens to file a petition forcing an election to merge the Dallas County Hospital District (Parkland) with a contiguous county. Elections would have to be held in both the petitioning county and in Dallas County, and voters in both would have to approve it for the merger to take place.

The Collin County Commissioners Court vehemently opposes the bill. Merging with Parkland is one of their worst fears.

Dallas County Judge Jim Foster and Parkland President Dr. Ron Anderson both testified that the merger was to the benefit of all counties, and might be needed so that Parkland could remain a level 1 Trauma center. If Parkland were to give up their level one status, the closest level one center would be in Houston. It was pointed out that when a traffic accident in Collin or Rockwall Counties results in a horrific trauma, the patient is almost always airlifted to Parkland - whether or not the victim is insured. Loss of access to Parkland would inevitably cost the lives of some suburban residents.

Dr. Anderson and members of the committee pointed out that Parkland not only served the poor and indigent, but also insured Dallas and suburban residents with the region's premier trauma center, burn unit and 24 hour psychiatric center.

Parkland's indigent care covers uninsured citizens who earn up to 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Judge Foster testified that last year, Parkland absorbed over $20 million in unpaid bills from suburban residents. Collin county covers up to 100$ of FPL, but also subjects applicants to an asset test that disqualifies more poor folks than the income level does. Other counties have more stringent income qualifications.

At one point during his testimony, Dr. Anderson quoted the Ellis County Judge as telling him, "Why buy the cow, if I can get the milk for free."

While County Judge Keith Self attended the hearing, he wisely (after the drubbing he got the last time he appeared before the County Affairs committee) did not testify. Commissioner Kathy Ward and the County's Health director, Candy Blair spoke on behalf of the commissioners court.

Commissioner Ward was closely questioned by several members of the committee, especially Chairman Garnet Coleman and Rep. Valinda Bolton. The Chair, in particular was inclined to lecturing on the history of health care benefits and legislation in Texas. Commissioner Ward, however remained poised and gracious, and the committee reciprocated. Her reception was in stark contrast to the last two legislative appearances by our county officials.

Ward testified that the county was willing to explore new ideas in indigent care, but that they were opposed to HB515 because the election would be too expensive and because it wasn't clear how much of Parkland's debt Collin County residents would have to assume.

Ward also stated that Collin County paid its bills. She noted that last year, the county paid Parkland on 143 invoices for 'qualified' Collin County indigents. What she did not list was the number of bills that went unpaid, because the county would not grant benefits because of income or asset tests.

Ward noted that an election would cost the county over $400,000. She rightly stated that HB515 would allow only 50 voters to file a petition to force an election. Ward pointed out that Collin County had any number of political activists who could go to any 7-11 and get 50 signatures before lunch.

Ward's $400,000 figure would be correct if the referendum was the only item on a county-wide ballot. However, HB515 does not mandate a special election. Nothing in the bill would prevent the commissioners from scheduling the election at the next regular election date. Combining the referendum with normally scheduled elections would drastically reduce the cost.

Ward also objected to a provision in the bill which would grant Dallas County commissioners the right to appoint the Hospital district's representatives from the annexed county. She stated that there was no way Collin County Commissioners would agree to that. She is right on target with that - in order to be fair to all sides, that provision of the bill needs to be reworked.

As to the debt issue, it is addressed in the bill, "If the district has outstanding debts or taxes, the voters in the election to approve the annexation must also determine if the annexed territory will assume its proportion of the debts or taxes if added to the district."

Candy Blair told the committee that according to Parkland's own statements during its last bond election, 90% of patients from suburban counties were insured and their bills were paid at a much higher percentage than patients from Dallas County.

With both HB515 and the Local Option Transportation Bill (SB855) asking local voters to take control over their own destinies by using the ballot box to decide if they want to support mass transit or improved health care. The 81st legislature is blazing a new trail in proposing innovative approaches to some of the most difficult political problems we face in suburban Collin County.

The legislature is not dictating new taxes, instead it asks the voters, "Is a mass transit system worth paying higher taxes?" and "Is improving health care access worth paying a hospital district tax?"

The county would do well to negotiate with the legislature to remove the more objectionable provisions of these bills - and then let the voters decide.

Bill

The recording of the March 30 House County Affairs Committee is at the Legislature's web site, here (requires RealPlayer).

The hearing on HB515 begins at time stamp 4:26:25.

Kathy Ward's testimony begins at time stamp 4:55:33.

Collin County commissioners divided on bill that provides funds to extend rail service

Sunday, March 29, 2009
by Ed Housewright / The Dallas Morning News

Rail service carries a hefty price tag.

Consider this: A single mile of light rail can cost $70 million, according to industry estimates.

By contrast, a single lane-mile of highway costs about $2.5 million.

Collin County commissioners are engaged in a rancorous, politically charged debate over rail service. They're split on a widely supported bill that could provide funding to extend rail lines to Allen, McKinney, Frisco and throughout the region.

Opponents, such as Collin County Judge Keith Self and Commissioner Matt Shaheen, cite the enormous expense of rail service compared with building roads. They say rail wouldn't carry enough riders to justify the sky-high cost.

For instance, extending rail from Plano to McKinney would cost almost $600 million, according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

"We need to make rail work," Shaheen said. "The problem is, the economics of rail now are just terrible."

Shaheen, Self and other opponents of the bill say rail service, if undertaken, should be funded by private investment and existing taxes. The new bill would allow cities the option of imposing new taxes or fees to extend rail.

Collin County Commissioner Jerry Hoagland, a bill supporter, said the booming county can't wait to start expanding rail service. Its population is expected to grow by more than 50 percent over the next two decades.

"I don't like to pay taxes any more than anybody else," Hoagland said. "But we've got to do something if we're ever going to enhance our transit."

Commissioner Joe Jaynes also supports the bill.

"I'm not crazy about the plan," he said. "But I'm also not going to tell people you can't have the right to vote on this."

Currently, rail service barely reaches Collin County. The DART line stops at Parker Road in Plano, leaving a huge expanse of northern and eastern Collin County unserved.

A study conducted by the council of governments calls for adding 251 miles of rail service in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Rockwall and Tarrant counties. The expansion, projected to cost $9.5 billion, would be completed in about 20 years.

Besides the rail line from Plano to McKinney, the study also recommends a $679 million leg from Carrollton to Frisco and a $492 million extension from Garland to Wylie.

In the council of governments' plan, some areas would be served by light rail and some by commuter rail. DART, for instance, uses primarily light rail. It's more expensive and is powered by electricity. Commuter rail uses diesel power.

More than 40 cities and five counties in the region have passed resolutions supporting the rail funding bill.

read more....

The Dallas Morning News Transportation Blog today published an unsigned "talking points" memo from TxDOT designed to counter media and public criticism of its handling the Central Expressway HOV lanes.

In its memo, TxDOT insists that there are no design flaws in the HOV.

They do, however, state that the original design was for a reversible lane with concrete barriers. (After complaints from local politicians in Richardson and Collin County and after two studies, TxDOT relented.) The transportation department confirms that another study is ongoing.

The memo lists three traffic fatalities that have occurred on Central since the HOV lanes were opened, two of them were caused by drivers illegally jumping the lane barriers.

What got to me was the statement TxDOT makes about future plans, "While interim efforts within current funding, right-of-way and other constraints will continue, long-term planning for optimal facilities is ongoing. 635/The New LBJ project is under development and will provide a case study on separated managed lanes. Current advanced planning is underway to address I-35E with plans to implement similar managed lane design similar to The New LBJ. As noted earlier, long-term planning for the US 75 corridor is beginning and will continue. Performance of managed lanes on The New LBJ project is the template for the future."

Managed lanes, such as what's planned for I-635 are toll lanes, very expensive toll lanes. I call them Lexus Lanes.

So TxDOT's solution to the HOV complaints is to toll more?

Good Lord, when will it end!

Bill

When Ed Housewright of the Dallas Morning News published his story, "Collin, Denton officials debate path of future Dallas North Tollway extension" on the conflict between Collin and Denton Counties over the DNT extension, my first reaction was, "Good Lord, it's about time someone at the DMN noticed!". After all, it was back last spring when the Collin County commissioners rescinded their agreement with Denton County and began taking the first steps to creating the Collin County Toll Road Authority.

When Collin County then began actions to actually take over the tollway extension, the Dallas Morning News barely blinked.

Now after Senator Carona filed a bill to force Collin County to submit to NTTA and after Keith Self got a tongue lashing from Senators Carona and Watson over the County's high handed actions, NOW the Dallas News catches on.

So it would appear that now NTTA wants to float an idea that is a win-win for both counties.

Why not have two Dallas North Tollways?, says NTTA. We'll take one up northwest through Denton County to I-35 and the other northeast through Collin County to US-75. Of course, they say, this "Y" is phase 4 of the DNT extension, and is at least 10 years away from beginning construction, so we have a lot of time to work out the details with you.

The only problem is what is Collin County to do with the Outer Loop? Last month, the county commissioners approved spending over $3 million to begin engineering on Phase 3 of their portion of this new toll road.

Phase 3 of the Outer Loop connects the Dallas North Tollway to US-75 only 3 miles south of the proposed "Y". Does the region need 2 tollways between Proper and Celina that make a connection to I35 and US-75? I doubt it.

Should Collin County wait 10 years to find out? Or should they gamble with 3 million dollars?

Delaying the engineering, will delay the project and make it much more expensive. But building the "Y" puts the entire regional Outer Loop in jeopardy with two toll roads competing for the same traffic.

Is it more likely that NTTA is playing a game with our intrepid commissioners?

One glance at a map tells the story. The "Y" is a direct threat to the regional Outer Loop. (I've sketched in the green "Y" and orange Outer Loop. The Dallas North Tollway phase 4 extension is the red dashed line.)

There is no reason to have two toll roads only three miles apart that make the same connections. There just isn't enough traffic to Oklahoma to justify both.

NTTA's Chairman, Paul Wageman told the commissioners a few weeks ago that the Outer Loop is not a Collin County exclusive. It is a regional highway covering 6 counties and possibly connecting to the Trans Texas Corridor. It is much bigger than Collin County - no matter how important it is to our county, it has regional and statewide significance.

This trial balloon "Y" proposal seems designed to reinforce that lesson on the country boys in McKinney.

Bill

==================================

Collin, Denton officials debate path of future Dallas North Tollway extension


Monday, March 23, 2009
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News

A simple line on a map could translate into billions of dollars for either Collin County or Denton County.

That line represents a proposed extension of the Dallas North Tollway, and the adjacent counties are squabbling over the alignment because of the economic bonanza it could bring as homes and businesses spring up around it.

Collin and Denton county officials had agreed the 7-mile stretch should be on the counties' common border to let each share in the riches.

But now Collin County commissioners insist on an alignment entirely within their county.

"This thing is like pure gold as far as the tax base is concerned," Collin County Commissioner Jerry Hoagland said. "Office, retail and so forth will spring up when it hits the ground."

Denton County officials accuse Collin commissioners of reneging on a written resolution in 2005 to share the extension right of way.

"I was very disappointed," Denton County Commissioner Andy Eads said. "Everyone represents their own jurisdiction, but we also have to wear the hat of regionalism."

The North Texas Tollway Authority alone will decide the path of the expansion, from FM428 in northern Collin County to its border with Grayson County.

Despite the agreement between Collin and Denton counties, the agency has never committed to build the extension along their boundary, said Paul Wageman, NTTA board chairman.

An alignment decision is more than a year away, he said. Construction probably wouldn't be complete for more than a decade.

"We're not going to make a political decision," said Wageman, a Collin County appointee to the board. "We're going to make the right decision for the agency."

The tollway authority recently proposed an extension alternative that could please both counties.

Instead of a single roadway northward, the agency is considering a branch that would veer northwest across Denton County and another northeast into Collin County.

"It's the best of both worlds," Collin County Commissioner Joe Jaynes said.

If the NTTA board decided on the so-called Y alignment, the Collin County branch probably would be built first because it's growing faster than Denton County, Wageman said.

Each leg would connect with another major thoroughfare.

The Collin County extension would run into U.S. 75, while the Denton County arm would meet Interstate 35, Wageman said.

"It gets both counties what they ultimately want, which is greater access into the metroplex and all the development that goes along those roadways," he said.

Dave Denison, a Denton County appointee to the NTTA board, said he's willing to consider the split extensions.

"It's got some interesting possibilities," he said. "But it probably hasn't been studied enough yet to really draw a conclusion."

However, he said he still likes the alignment that would straddle the boundary of Collin and Denton counties. Mr. Denison said he's angry that Collin County commissioners voted last year to rescind the 2005 agreement.

"The alignment was fair for both counties," he said. "Nobody likes to have a partner renege on them."

Collin County commissioners also riled NTTA board members recently by creating a separate county toll road authority.

The new body hasn't taken any action yet. But commissioners want the option to operate county toll roads and keep the fares.

Now, Collin County partners with Denton, Dallas and Tarrant counties in the North Texas Tollway Authority.

Fares collected on the Dallas North Tollway, Bush Turnpike and other roads are used for improvements throughout the four counties.

But the NTTA has so many projects under way it won't be able to build toll roads fast enough in booming Collin County, officials say.

"We can't wait for the NTTA," Hoagland said. "We've got to take matters into our own hands."

Wageman, however, said Collin County should focus its energies on supporting the NTTA and its regional approach.

"They are a one-quarter owner of our agency," he said. "We have a tremendous investment in Collin County."

read more....

Editorial: Collin County should act regionally

The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board
Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Collin County can act like a petulant sibling in transportation matters. This, even though North Texas' traffic congestion presents a dense thicket of problems that requires a coherent approach to solve.

So it is fortunate that a bill in the Texas Senate aims to rein in Collin County from becoming more of an outlier when it comes to regionally planned and operated toll roads.

At issue are two decisions from the Collin County Commissioners Court last year. One was the formation of its own toll authority. Second was its rescinding of a three-year-old resolution adopted jointly with Denton County, in which both had recommended that a future leg of the Dallas North Tollway proceed along the counties' mutual border. Collin County ultimately decided it wanted the tollway extension – and the spinoff development – all to itself.

The alignment decision was a symbolic one, since the four-county North Texas Tollway Authority, a state agency, will determine what route will best meet traffic demands.

But the symbolism was a sign of things to come. And when the county created a competing tollway authority, it appeared as though reason ran into the ditch.

Commissioners contend that the county's own tolling agency would ensure that residents are treated fairly when it comes to revenue distribution. But residents ought to ask for the price tag of ramping up a new government apparatus and taking on the administrative and planning functions already done by a regional government agency. The NTTA, in fact, includes two Collin County representatives on its nine-member board – including the current chairman. Further, North Texas' umbrella planning group, the Regional Transportation Council, has an established, equitable toll-sharing policy based on the registration of cars that use a pay road.

As filed, Sen. John Carona's SB 882 could settle this game of brinksmanship. It would permit a county toll authority to advance a project only with signoff from the regional toll-road agency. If some local officials want to work at cross purposes with other transportation providers in the region, Austin has a legitimate reason to step in.

link to editorial....

Editorial: Tollway unnecessary in Denton County

Issue date: 3/24/09
The North Texas Daily, The official student newspaper of the University of North Texas

Denton and Collin counties are in a squabble concerning the route of a proposed extension of the Dallas North Tollway. Collin County wants a 7-mile stretch to be located exclusively in its confines, while Denton County wants the tollway to be built on the border of the two counties.

The North Texas Tollway Authority, which has the last word on if and where the road will be built, should reconsider the consequences of having yet another highway built in the Dallas-Forth Worth area.

Generally when highways or tollways are constructed, development and economic growth follow in the surrounding area. However appealing this may sound, construction also leads to suburban sprawl, which causes many problems of its own.

Suburban sprawl usually lacks effective planning because the fast economic growth that follows the building of major roads is difficult to control. As developers stake out their claim of land, many factors are ignored, such as energy, traffic flow and the environment.

Because of the low-density population levels in suburban cities, energy is not maximized and is often wasted. Resources are used to supply residents with their needs over vast distances, requiring energy to bring them to the consumer. Residents also use energy in the form of driving automobiles over large distances to get to work and shopping centers. Because grocery stores and other places are not planned to effectively accommodate the consumer, more gas is guzzled.

Traffic becomes a problem as more roads are built, even though they are meant to alleviate the problem. Suburban sprawl limits the effectiveness of public transportation as locations become spread out. It encourages people to move further out from a city's focal point, which often causes commutes to be longer as more people hit the road for work.

The environment is also altered in a manner not beneficial to residents in the area. Sprawl increases the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in an area as residents use vehicles to get around. Areas that once were grasslands or forests are replaced with impervious surfaces like concrete, which causes a decrease in our water quality as pollutants from cars are washed into the cities' water supply.

Building more roads treats the symptom of a larger problem. Gas will not be cheap forever, and plans must be made accordingly. As America shifts its focus to energy efficiency in the 21st century, North Texas would be wise to adopt methods of planning to reduce the amount of traffic in the area without more road building.

link to editorial...

County Judge Keith Self has posted his written statement given to the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee on SB855.

Sen. Watson lectures Keith Self at SB855 hearing

The written statement is very different from Self's oral testimony last week. Both however refer to the Local Option Transportation Act as a "tax increase". That characterization was hotly disputed by Senators Carona and Watson during Self's appearance at the committee hearings.

In a phrase reminiscent of Self's February, 2008 weird blog post comparing the NCTCOG to the Soviet Union's central planning, Self several times refers to the bill as building "a command economy".

On Sunday, the Dallas Morning News wrote an editorial piece on Self's appearance at the hearing. Calling it the, "Keith Self side show", the editorial noted that "Keith Self doesn't speak for all of Collin County", and that the senate bill gives local taxpayers a choice on whether to tax themselves or not.

On Monday, Judge Self is expected to brief the Commissioners' Court on his testimony and the status of SB855 and other bills the court has labeled priorities. At his briefing at the last court session, Self described the committee hearings as no place for "sissies". I wonder if he'll now be comparing Austin to Golgotha.

After the near lynching Keith Self has received in his last two appearances before a legislative committee, the Commissioners Court might do well to appoint one of its more rational members as their spokesman for any future committee testimony.

Bill

Update: March 25 - by a 7-2 vote, The Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee passed SB855 to the full Senate.

Judge Keith Self should have seen it coming. After all, he told the commissioners court last week that testifying before a legislative committee was "no place for sissies."

Tuesday, members of the Texas Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee proved him right about at least that one thing.

For at least a month, Keith Self has been leading a campaign against Senator Carona's SB855, the Local Option Transportation Act.

The bill would allow cities to require a commissioners court to call an election where the voters could create a taxing district that would be able to develop mass transportation projects.

Self, ignoring the fact that the bill allows the voters to choose to tax themselves or not, has been charging that passage of the bill, "Would add a whole new set of taxes to fund every sort of transportation and transit project, as well as give authorities over those tax funds to an entity outside the county."

As Judge Self learned, while email and blogs can get away with inflammatory and half true statements, its not a good idea to use the same tactic in a legislative committee hearing.

SB 855 has the support of most of the cities and counties in the region. Representatives from Denton County, Dallas County, Hunt County, the cities of Plano, McKinney, Frisco, Richardson, Greenville, Commerce and Arlington, the Fort Worth, Arlington and Dallas Chambers of Commerce, DFW Airport and DART all testified for passage of the bill.

Opposition came from several anti-tax PACs and of course from Judge Keith Self.

After more that 2 hours of testimony, the drama came when the Committee called for Judge Self and Commissioner Hoagland to testify.

Self led off, beginning with a comment that over the last ten years, state spending had grown twice as fast as the increase in population and inflation. Self then stated that, "This is a tax increase". When he later repeated the tax increase charge, it was too much for Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin) to bear.

Watson said, "You just indicated that we're passing a tax increase. I think you're wrong about that. I hope that what you'll do is go back and look at the bill."

Watson added, "When you say we're passing a tax, that is not true. It is responding to a request from local elected officials and local communities, saying,'We need some help'.".

Wagging his finger at Self, Watson added, "But to say we are passing a tax increase is just a wrong statement. And I just want to make sure that you're clear about that, because I think it is inappropriate... The local community has to make the decision as to whether to have an election, and then would have to have an election."

Watson then told Self, "I know that in politics it's fun and it gets some people some support by throwing around words that's not entirely accurate, but I would ask you that when you're appearing before this committee, that's working as hard as it can to meet the needs of people across this state, that you take care in the way you characterize their work."

Self should have seen it coming.

If he did, he shrugged it off and plowed on. After the Judge completed his statement calling the result of the bill a 'hodge-podge system', Senator John Carona (R-Richardson) weighed in.

Carona let loose a blast at Self, saying, "Judge, we would welcome your help, but thus far we haven't seen any of it. The only thing I've seen so far is a series of emails you've sent out to the various anti-tax groups like yourself. But we would welcome your constructive input."

"But given the fact that overwhelmingly the cities in your county support this, it seems to me that you do a disservice to the community by sending out the missives you've sent out before you even knew or understood what the bill said."

Carona concluded with, "And then divorcing yourself from any opportunity to make the bill better or to offer anything constructive is really tragic. It is especially tragic that in a progressive part of the state like Collin County that this would represent the future leadership of the county."

After the whipping on Self, it was Commissioner Jerry Hoagland's turn to speak. Hoagland began his testimony by pointing out that when he was first elected commissioner, the county's population was 144,000. It is now over 750,000, Hoagland said, and will be as large as Dallas County is now by around 2042.

Reading from a prepared statement Hoagland said that failure to plan for future growth would result in log jams on our highways streets and toll roads.

Calling those who call the county's tax rate too high are playing "chicken little, the sky is falling", Hoagland pointed out that Collin County citizens pay some of the lowest county taxes in the state.

"I believe there is something worse than paying a few dollars in taxes. That something is sticking our heads in the sand and not planning for the future. Growth will gridlock us in the future and therefore cost us more tomorrow if we don't deal with this problem today.", said Hoagland.

Hoagland testified that the people have said they want rail mass transit, and that local government officials have no right to say that the people can not choose to tax themselves by holding an election and voting.

SB855 offers voters a choice of several tax schemes. It allows cities to require a countywide election where the taxes and district would be voted on by the county's voters. Senator Shapleigh (D-El Paso) objected to the bill because he believed it would create a number of districts instead of a united highway and rail system. Shapleigh and several Senators stated that the best way to fund transportation would be to raise the gasoline tax. While many on the committee agreed that a gas tax is a simpler and better approach, it was noted that a gas tax raise is impossible to enact since Governor Rick Perry has vowed to veto any gas tax hike.

SB855 is expected to be approved by the committee in a few days, after some tweaking.

After the fireworks over SB855, the committee then held a hearing on SB882.

SB882 is NTTAs response to the attempt by the Collin County Commissioners Court to hijack a future portion of the Dallas North Tollway. SB882 would give a regional transit authority, namely NTTA veto power over toll projects created by the Collin County Toll Road Authority.

As I described in an earlier article, the commissioners are terrified that NTTA could use its new authority to stop or limit the Outer Loop project.

In his testimony, NTTA Chairman Paul Wageman of Plano said that it made no sense for two public agencies to be at loggerheads over the same project without some level of cooperation.

Wageman then charged that, "Judge Self and the commissioners have had on their agendas, at least twice over the last few months, essentially court orders to issue contracts on elements of our system that are either owned entirely by the NTTA or under contractual arrangements."

Senator Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) tried to set the stage for a compromise, saying, "surely there is one way we can meet in the middle." Shapiro seemed surprised to learn that the county had tried to expropriate a part of the DNT.

Senator Carona jumped in, asking to be part of any negotiating team, saying, "I don't think Collin County plays nice lately. I don't think they have a regional concern, but only for provincial Collin County".

"Bad things happen if you don't play nice", Carona added.

Judge Self did testify, pleading that the county had already spent over $3 million on the Outer Loop and that the agenda items were a clerical mistake.

The bill was left pending further negotiations.

The county judge has now made two trips to the Capitol this month to testify at public hearings. Both ended poorly for him and his cause - in both Self was embarrassed to find that his brand of bombast and half truth might work in McKinney, but it is a real mistake to try to carry the same approach to Austin.

After the last legislative hearing, on the County Auditor bill, Self said he learned that the committee hearings were no place for sissies. It's too bad that's all he learned.

It's not about sissies. It's about integrity. It's about leadership.

Bill

Update 9:30AM on March 19
The Dallas Morning News blogs covered the hearing and the Collin County Observer:

Self to Carona: Don't give NTTA veto power over new new county toll authority

Carona to Collin County Judge Self: 'You do a disservice to your community'

Keith Self called out on his clumsy anti-tax rantings

The public hearing was captured on video tape and can be seen on the Texas Legislature's web site.

Judge Self's testimony on SB855 can be seen at time stamp 2:10:35

Jerry Hoagland's testimony is at time stamp 2:15:50

Hoagland's written statement is here.

Discussion of SB882 begins at time stamp 4:13:00

Last week, the commissioners court approved a $381,000 contract with the engineering firm of HTNB for a "Route Study" to determine the final placement of a 9 mile, 6 lane divided highway over Lake Lavon that would connect FM 1378 in Lucas to SH 78 near Copeville. The road will span the entire width of the lake with 2 bridges, and eventually connect with the eastern leg of the Outer Loop.

The new highway and bridges would provide a more direct route from rapidly growing Lavon and Rockwall to Plano via Parker Rd. SH 205 to Rockwall is already scheduled to expand to 6 lanes.

The road will divert much of the westbound traffic from eastern Collin County from Wylie into Lucas, Parker, and Plano.

Almost immediately after the court's actions a group called "Save Lake Lavon" set up a web site to protest the bridges.

The group lists their mission as to, "Preserve the peace and tranquility of Lake Lavon, its parks, equestrian trails, camp grounds, fishing, swimming, boating, picnic and recreational areas."

Their home page is emblazoned with the headline "Help Save Lake Lavon", and explains, "We seek to avoid the ill fate of Lake Ray Hubbard and do not want Lake Lavon ruined by any more loud, unsightly, polluting bridges."

In another, related action, the court approved spending $450,000 as a 10% match to TxDOT funds for acquisition of land to widen Parker Rd (from Murphy Rd. to FM 1378) to 6 lanes.

In 2005, the county held a public meeting in Wylie to discuss the various routes a widened Parker Rd. could take. Four different right of ways were proposed. One veered sharply to the north to Lucas. It was explained that the northern route would connect with the proposed bridge across Lake Lavon.

The other 3 routes simply eliminated the 'dog leg' intersection of Parker and FM 1378, leaving the main route towards St. Paul and Wylie. Most of the meeting was spent exploring these 3 alternatives to the bad intersection at FM 1378.

During the 2005 meeting, residents expressed a variety of opinions, with several speaking out against the northern route. County officials and the engineers explained that there would be more public hearings before a decision was made on the final right of way.

I recently asked County Engineer Rubin Delgado if purchasing $4.5 million in land meant that the final route had been determined. Mr. Delgado wrote back stating, "We, the county, have set the alignment and are proceeding with the schematic and right-of-way plans leading to a public hearing."

Wow! The public hearing will be scheduled after all the decisions have been made and the plans are drawn.

It used to be "We, the people"; now its "We, the county".

So much for public input. Maybe these Save the Lake folks are on to something.

Bill

It seems that the Collin and Denton County NTTA board members don't like naming a road after a Democrat.

Me, I like naming a major highway for Speaker Sam Rayburn - but did it have to be a tollway?

Bill

======================

Some on tollway board criticize Sam Rayburn name change

Monday, March 16, 2009
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News

If the U.S. House of Representatives was once known as Mr. Sam's House, in recognition of North Texas native Sam Rayburn's 17 years as speaker, the state's largest, costliest and most controversial toll road may soon be known as Mr. Sam's Tollway.

On Monday, the North Texas Tollway Authority board voted 6-3 to rename the State Highway 121 toll road in honor of one of Texas' most dominant figures ever to serve in Washington. Effective immediately, the 26-mile toll road will be known as the Sam Rayburn Tollway. Signs will be erected within weeks, NTTA spokeswoman Sherita Coffelt said.

"Personally I would have preferred Ronald Reagan Tollway,"
Denton County Judge Mary Horn

Rayburn was born and is buried in Bonham, Texas, about 50 miles northeast of NTTA's Plano headquarters. A mentor to Lyndon B. Johnson and a key ally of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal era, Rayburn is considered one of three Democratic giants to have represented Texas in Congress, along with Johnson and House Speaker and Vice President John Nance Garner IV, also known as "Cactus Jack."

Despite Rayburn's North Texas roots, naming the toll road after him was unusually divisive for the NTTA board. Three board members – including both representatives from Denton County and one of two from Collin County – strongly objected.

Denton County board member Dave Denison dismissed the choice as merely "nostalgic" and urged his colleagues instead to give the road a name closer to what most drivers already know it as, 121 Tollway.

"It is already known as 121, and it has been for years. It was called Highway 121 back when I was drag-racing on it 50 years ago," Denison said.

Denton County board member Michael Nowels told his colleagues he was dismayed by the vote to name the road after Rayburn, when the majority of the toll road runs through Denton County. Collin County board member Gary Base also voted against the change.

"I am disappointed and frankly surprised at how this is turning out," he said. "This road goes through Collin and Denton County, and the three board members who are from those two counties want it to be called 121. The other members are from someplace else."

NTTA chairman Paul Wageman, who also is from Collin County, noted that the toll road actually runs through Dallas County, too – albeit for just two miles.

What's more, he said, the only county commissioners court to weigh in on the naming – Denton County – voted unanimously to support calling it 121 Tollway.

"I would have much preferred it to be named 121," said Denton County Judge Mary Horn. "That's how it's been known for years now, and it's what everybody calls it."

Both Denton and Collin counties are heavily Republican, and Horn said if the authority was determined to name it for an individual, there were better choices.

"Personally I would have preferred Ronald Reagan Tollway," she said.

read more....

"It's not going to be for sissies." That's how County judge Keith Self cautioned the members of the court on testifying before a Texas House Committee. Self was relating to his experience at the Texas House Committee on County Affairs hearing on HB561 last Monday.

In his description of the hearing he said "it was all there, the politics of destruction and demonization." What he meant to say was, "There were a lot of witnesses there who disagreed with me." He then charged that he was chastised by two counties whose IT efforts were still in the dark ages.

In fact, there were no personal or nasty attacks. HB561 is a bad bill; it drew a determined opposition from auditors from around the state. The County Affairs Committee saw the bill as an attempt by the county to circumvent the verdict of the court in Collin County vs. Collin County Auditor

Self noted that he "learned a lot" from the experience. He was warning the court that Collin County efforts to support a bill allowing a county to require engineers, architects and surveyors to compete for county business by competitive bid would face strong opposition.

Self was speaking about the county's support for HB1105. That bill, authored by Jodie Laubenberg and Ken Paxton was written at the request of the Collin County Commissioners.

Self is right, he's going to face some very stiff opposition to HB1105. And he'll likely lose.

He might as well get used to it. It would appear that none of the county's legislative agenda will make it into law.

Collin County has defined these bills as its Legislative Agenda:

HB561
Author: Jerry Madden, Plano
"Relating to the authority of county auditors with respect to computer software and data of other local officers or departments."
This bill aims to strip the county auditor of the ability to monitor software. It was filed at the request of Collin County, and was presented in public hearing on Monday. It will not get out of Committee.

HB562
Author: Jerry Madden, Plano
"Relating to certain employment functions of county government."
This bill is also seen as an attack on the Collin County Auditor. It was debated in Monday's public hearing. I suspect its only chance of getting enacted will be if all mention of the auditor are removed.

HB1480
Author: Jerry Madden, Plano
"Relating to the use of video teleconferencing systems in certain criminal proceedings."
This bill would allow video testimony in grand jury proceedings and in certain plea hearings. It is generally considered unconstitutional, and will not get out of committee. It was written at the request of the Commissioners Court.

HB1105
Author: Jodi Laubenberg, Parker | et al.
"Relating to procuring contracts for certain professional services by a governmental entity."
This bill would allow the county to add a competitive bid dimension to the process of selecting engineers and architects for large construction projects. It was also filed at the request of the commissioners court. While the bill has some merit, it will draw powerful opposition. I doubt it will survive.

SB855 & HB9
Author: John Carona, Richardson & Truitt | et al.
"Relating to local options regarding transportation and mobility improvement projects in certain counties."
These bills would allow citizens to hold an election to form a mass transportation district that could levy a variety of taxes. It has wide support of most of the larger cities, and of DART and the RTC. It is expected to pass. The County opposes the bills.

HB2334 & SB882
Author: Geren & Carona
"Relating to the powers and duties of a regional tollway authority, including the establishment of an administrative adjudication hearing procedure; creating an offense."
These bills would gut the ability of the Collin County Toll Road Authority to build any toll road without getting the approval of the NTTA. The bills are seen as an aggressive self-defense move by the NTTA after Collin County tried to take over a portion of the Dallas North Tollway. By grasping for a piece of the DNT, the commissioners may lose the ability to build the Outer Loop. The bill sets the stage for a David and Goliath political battle. The problem is that the county forgot to bring their sling. Or as I remember from the "Untouchables", the county brought a knife to a gun fight. The commissioners are asking NTTA to negotiate a truce.

Bill

Shortly after I wrote "Collin badly understimulated", I heard a rumor that Tarrant County, TxDOT, and the RTC were working on a deal.

Tarrant County was not going to be able to collect the SH 121 funds promised it in the contract with NTTA, so the wheelers and dealers came up with the plan that Fort Worth would get the lion's share of the stimulus funds and in return, Collin County would get TxDOT money for US 380 and other projects.

It looks like that's exactly what happened.

On Thursday, Michael Lindenberger reported in the Dallas Morning News that the "DFW Connector" in Tarrant County would receive $250 million in TxDOT stimulus funds. The DFW Connector is a $917 million project containing both free lanes and tolled "managed" lanes.

The RTC voted to send another $144 million of stimulus funds to Tarrant County for interchanges on the Southwest Parkway, a toll road to be build by NTTA.

These decisions mean that all of the stimulus money earmarked for large projects in North Texas will be spent in Tarrant County.

The McKinney Courier-Gazette reports that the RTC also voted to send $27.5 million of TxDOT funds to complete the US 380 expansion. The US 380 project is one of the increasingly few "non tolled" projects (at least it is for now) for which TxDOT has committed funding.

Several legislators were critical of the plan TxDOT proposed to spend the federal stimulus money. They charged that 70% of the funds were going to tolled roads or "toll-related" roads.

Of course, the missing link in this deal is the $2+ billion in concession fees for SH 121. That money is still embargoed by TxDOT. They have promised to release it for projects approved by the RTC that are connected to the State Highway system, but with the legislature in session, and especially with legislators ticked off at TxDOT, anything could happen.

Bill

Summary: TxDOT shortchanges Collin County, really stimulates Austin. Tarrant County is the big winner.

On Wednesday, The Texas Department of Transportation delivered its final project recommendations for stimulus spending to the Texas Legislature. The state has been allocated $1.2 billion in federal stimulus funds for highway construction.

TxDOT did not propose spending for any major projects in Collin County, however, they did include as a maintenance item $2.5 million for "Safety improvements" on Preston Rd. at Legacy Dr.

The $2.5 million proposed for Collin County represents about 0.21% of the statewide $1.2 billion allocated.

To put the proposal in perspective, Collin County accounts for approximately 3.1% of the state's population. The stimulus would equal $3.42 for each person in Collin County.

By any measure Collin County is shortchanged: per capita, Collin will receive less than 7% of its fair share; per vehicle, less than 8%; and about 25% of its fair share per lane mile of highway.

Tarrant County (Fort Worth) will be the most stimulated. It is slated to receive almost $252 million.

The other big winner is Travis County (Austin). Its $137.7 million in stimulus is over 11% of the total, while the county has only 4% of Texas' population.

PER CAPITA TXDOT STIMULUS PROJECTS

County	Population*	$ Stimulus (millions)	$ per capita
Tarrant	1,717,435	$ 251.8	$ 146.65
Travis	974,365	$ 137.7	$ 141.38
Collin	730,690	$ 2.5	$ 3.42

* Population figures are TxDOT's

While no local state representatives serve on the House Transportation Committee, Senator Florence Shapiro is on the Senate's Transportation and Homeland Security Committee which is chaired by Senator John Carona of Richardson.

Bill

Commissioners engage in heated debate
by Heather M. Smith, Staff writer / Plano Star Courier

Two county engineering projects garnered a sizzling debate among County Commissioners during Monday’s court meeting.

The first project is an engineering services agreement with Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam, Inc. for the improvements to SH 289 from Parvin Branch south of U.S. 380 to north of U.S. 380. The budget amendment will total $1,031,884.

Commissioner Matt Shaheen suggested going back to Lockwood, Andrew and Newnam, Inc. and renegotiate for a new, lower bid. He said if the county can’t get a lower bid, they should go to a different company. Shaheen said he didn’t want to change the scope of the project; he just wants to negotiate the company’s hourly rate. However, Commissioner Joe Jaynes argued that now is the time to move on the project.

“I don’t want to see this important project have to wait,” Jaynes said.

Jaynes said he believes the area around State Highway 289 and U.S. 380 will be a huge development area and urged his fellow commissioners to press on with the project.

The court approved the item in a 4-1 vote, with Shaheen voting against. While Judge Keith Self voted with the majority of the court, he cautioned them against making hasty decisions on budget issues, likening their decisions to the “rush” decision regarding the stimulus package passed by Congress.

The second project is an engineering services agreement with HNTB Corporation for the Lake Lavon bridge study. The budget amendment will total $381,875 and cost 3,100 man hours. HNTB will charge $256 per hour for a principal worker, while a different company, Dannenbaum, would charge $169 per hour for the same level worker.

“We are paying a premium,” Shaheen said. “There’s no doubt that any one of the companies can do the project.”

Tensions were high while commissioners debated their points regarding the project. Again, Shaheen suggested going back to HNTB to renegotiate their rates. Self said that if ever there was a project where the county could make its point n that they want engineering companies to bring competitive bids n this is the project. Commissioner Kathy Ward agreed and said she would like to go back to HNTB and ask them to change their hourly rate. HNTB had already lowered their bid by 7 percent.

“Just because we have half a million dollars doesn’t mean we have to spend $500,000,” Self said.

This would be the third time the Lake Lavon bridge study would be pushed back, but Shaheen said it would not be a slow process to get more bids. He said he’s willing to delay the project a couple of weeks if it will save taxpayers money.

“We just need to get this project moving; my patience is growing thin on these delays,” Commissioner Jerry Hoagland said. “This project won’t only be delayed a couple of weeks, it will be longer.”

After much debate, Shaheen motioned to go back to HNTB and ask for an additional 13 percent reduction and Ward seconded the motion. Everyone except Hoagland and Jaynes voted for the motion.

read more....

DART to receive $62 million in federal stimulus funds

Tuesday, February 24, 2009
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News

DART President Gary Thomas said he expects to receive nearly $62 million in funds from the federal stimulus package, according to a message he sent to employees.

No decisions have been made about how those funds will be spent, though Dallas Area Rapid Transit officials have been evaluating a wide range of possibilities. The money will be used on capital projects that are already identified in the 20-year financial plan.

In a message sent to employees on Friday, Thomas said the agency had been told it would receive $61.5 million in formula funds and an additional $300,000 in rail modernization money.

“As many of you know, we've been following the progress of this legislation for several months and have identified a number of potential projects that could qualify for these funds,” Thomas wrote.

The next step is for the agency to make a request to the North Central Texas Council of Governments, which will be involved in administering the funds along with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration.

“We are also continuing to review the legislation to see if there are other sources of funding for us,” Thomas wrote.

The DART board of directors and finance committee each meet Tuesday, but there is no mention of deciding how to spend the money on either group's agenda.

Lara Kohl, spokeswoman for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said the planning entity has been focused on how to spend the nearly $200 million in highway funding Dallas will receive, and has not yet focused on DART.

The federal money for transit is a small amount compared with more than $1 billion DART is spending on construction and other capital projects this year, its busiest ever.

link to article....

On Monday, The Texas Department of Transportation provided the Texas House Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization Funding information on its efforts to implement its portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), commonly known as the Economic Stimulus Package.

Collin County looks to get shortchanged once again by our good friends at TxDOT.

Out of a 20 page list of projects totaling over $2 billion, Collin County is included on only 3 of the smaller projects totaling $30 million. Based on population, the proposed spending for Collin County is only half of its fair share of the stimulus funds.

TxDOT's list will be cut in half, so it is very possible that out of a projected state total of $1.2 billion in federal stimulus spending, Collin County would receive nothing.

The 3 projects listed by TxDOT are:

• $27 million to widen US 380 from Lake Lavon to Farmersville.
• $2.5 million for intersection improvements on Preston Rd. @ Legacy.
• $485,000 to construct a left turn lane on SH5 @ FM 455.

Don't our legislators do anything to protect Collin County?

We have commissioners here who campaign for office based on their ability to forge relationships with legislators and state officials. What exactly is that influence getting us? Only screwed six ways from Sunday by TxDOT on pass-through financing, on SH121, and now on stimulus spending.

I'm starting to believe that Austin's only interest in Collin County is toll revenue and reliable Republican votes (votes that Austin doesn't have to work for).

Bill

List of Prioritized Proposed Projects given to the Select Committee

FromTxDOT's Stimulus Funding web page:

TxDOT released a list of transportation projects that would require $2.2 billion in stimulus funds that department staff will eventually narrow to projects requiring $1.2 billion. TxDOT also provided the committee with a list of maintenance projects that would require $508 million in stimulus money.

The committee was also provided with a list of $600 million in projects that could be funded through the state’s Proposition 14 bond initiative, a program created by the Texas Legislature.

The Texas Transportation Commission will meet in Austin on Wednesday, February 25, and Thursday, February 26. Wednesday’s commission meeting is scheduled to include a discussion of TxDOT’s work to prepare for the expenditure of stimulus funds. Thursday’s meeting is scheduled to include commission action on projects from the state’s share of stimulus funds and from the state’s Proposition 14 bond program.

The county commissioners, meeting as the Collin County Toll Road Authority, have spent a lot of time over the last month listening to staff presentations on the Outer Loop.

Monday, they took action, approving the preparation of full engineering plans for the 3-A,B,C & D sections of the proposed tollway.

Those sections, known as Phase 3 would connect the Dallas North Tollway with Central Expressway. The engineering plans are budgeted at $3.1 million. The court also approved doing preliminary survey work on the Phase 4 section that connects US 380 east of Farmersville with FM 6 between Nevada and Josephine. The cost of the survey work is expected to be about $700,000.

Late last year, the court approved engineering plans for Phase 1 which will connect US 75 with SH 121 north of Melissa. The engineering cost for Phase 1 was approved at $956 million. The court had also approved spending $10 million to aquire the land for the toll road.

The expected cost of the entire 53 mile Outer Loop project is expected to be almost $4 billion (in 2008 dollars). It is hoped that construction will begin in 2011 and probably won't be complete until after 2030.

One thing that came out in testimony during these last meetings is that the commissioners really have no idea how they are going to be able to finance the $4 billion price tag between now and 2030.

The county has $3.9 million available, of which the court approved spending $3.8 million yesterday. They anticipate being able to raise about $4 million from general revenue, and to divert about $10 million from bond funds.

Another $5 million was promised by the RTC from SH 121 money, but the commissioners court learned last week that the money could only be used for environmental studies. That leaves more than $3.9 billion of the $4 billion costs unfunded.

Nevertheless, it is "full steam ahead" for our planned Outer Loop Tollway.

In other action, after meeting in executive session, the court approved beginning a condemnation suit on one parcel of private land needed for the road. (They have the money for lawyers).

Bill

Notes:

February Outer Loop Update presentation, February 16, 2009

The Collin County Toll Road Authority, CCO, January 26, 2009

Outer Loop: County to seek legal action against property owners?, CCO, January 3, 2008

DMN-Outer Loop route gets a green light, CCO, December 15, 2006

County Judge Keith Self, whose record on campaigning for transportation issues has proven to be pretty dismal, is leading a personal blog and email campaign against the "Texas Local Option Transportation" bills introduced in the Legislature.

In an email to supporters (and on his blog) Self charged that, "something must be done or a catastrophe will happen".

The local options bills (HB-9 and SB-855) would allow voters in a county to hold an election to tax themselves in order to build roads, rail or mobility projects.

Currently the voters have no ability to call a referendum on mobility projects.

His last foray into transportation elections was in the 2007 Bond Election, when Self campaigned against the bond package.

He wanted the county to use "pass through financing" from TxDOT to finance large construction projects, leaving the cities to pay for their own smaller secondary road improvements. His plan was a bad idea then and was soon proven to be a very, very bad idea, when not long after the election, the state killed the whole "pass through" program.

It would appear that Judge Self doesn't trust the citizens to vote in their own best interests. He and our commissioners would rather tax us without an election by using their newly created Collin County Toll Road Authority to build highways that tax by the mile.

No citizen voted for the Toll Road Authority. There has been no election or referendum on the Outer Loop - the commissioners court makes the decisions.

Remember, this commissioners court also campaigned for and approved the SH 121 toll scheme - evidently without reading the fine print. It was the fine print that enabled TxDOT to grab all $3.2 billion of the concession fee. Collin County has yet to see a dime.

Now there is much wrong with the 2 bills submitted to the legislature. There needs to be a lot of work done to insure that local county citizens are not expected to bear the entire burden of building their transportation infrastructure. Traditionally the Federal and State governments have shouldered the lion's share of the costs of major highway and inter-urban rail projects.

They still need to do so. We need to be assured that passage of these bills does not ease the pressure we must put on our state and national leaders to help us build for our future.

The trend of "pushing down" the responsibility for major infrastructure financing needs to be reversed. If we don't how long will it be before we require small cities like Melissa or Fairview to pay to improve Central Expressway?

Other parts of the bill will require a lot of analysis and compromise. The bills offer a wide range of fee and tax options that voters could choose from in the referendum. Some, like $1/hr parking fees need to get deep sixed. Nevertheless, these bills offer a way for Collin County citizens to become the masters of their own fate with regard to construction of commuter rail and major highways.

In his email, Self writes that, "This bill is structured with the belief that you, the voter, will vote for any tax that is put on a ballot with no discernment whether or not the added tax is absolutely necessary or not.". I can't speak for the bill's authors, but it seems that in any election the voters can say "Yes" or "No".

Why doesn't Self trust our citizens to make responsible choices? Because they voted for him?

Judge Self's reasoning become clearer when in his next sentence, he wrote, "Where is the review to make sure that every tax dollar is being spent as wisely as possible before we add yet another tax? Where is the prioritization to make sure that your tax dollars are being spent for the most important government functions?". Obviously he feels that the wisdom to decide resides solely in the Collin County Commissioners Court.

I'm going to disagree with that.

Bill

NOTES:

The text of HB-9

A recent Texas Municipal League Legislative Update contains a good "plain english" explanation of HB-9

An interesting analysis of HB-9 by Dallas Morning News' reporter Michael Lindenberger published Feb. 16.

Keith Self's Blog

Editorial: HOV headaches on Central

Friday, February 20, 2009
The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board

The HOV setup linking North Central Expressway and LBJ is a sore subject for most everybody who has laid eyes on it.

Motorists in the main lanes complain that there aren't enough HOV drivers to justify the lanes. Richardson drivers complain that they can't get in or out of the lanes in the city. Everyone complains that drivers who bust through the pylons make a mess on the roadway. People want the pylons gone and the lanes liberated.

The beefs range from legitimate to bogus. Either way, they're enough to give a useful traffic-management tool a huge public relations problem, and that has to be fixed.

The bottom line is that the lanes aren't going away, short of a redo of Central. Yes, they're a squeeze, owing to the width of the highway. But that die was cast when Tom Landry was coaching the Cowboys.

We disagree with those who see no value in lanes that encourage car pooling. The environmental and economic costs of congestion argue for more, not fewer, innovations to attack the problem.

As for the effectiveness of this innovation, the data show rising use – about three-fourths of the design capacity of 1,600 vehicles per lane at peak times.

Maximizing use of the remaining capacity is important. One way is signage that makes clear to drivers what they're getting into and where they can get out. Another is safe access in Richardson. Simulations show that a simple opening in the pylons would cause a safety hazard, so TxDOT? is exploring the feasibility of flyover ramps. Good. It makes sense to put Richardson-to-McKinney carpoolers in a lane that rewards efficiency.

Vehicle breakdowns in Central's HOV lanes – and on other HOVs in the area – are one of the biggest obstacles to smooth operation. Drivers on Central now must crash through the pylons to break free of tie-ups, creating a mess of broken plastic. It's good to see officials spacing out the pylons and looking to improve their design. A mess on the highway gives the impression of a slipshod program.

Still, the best sales job for HOV travel is done by satisfied customers who can attest to faster, less-stressful commutes. North Texas needs their success stories if we are to unclog our arteries

link to editorial...

From the City of Frisco
www.friscotexas.gov

FIRST 2009 TOWN HALL MEETING TO BE HELD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23

(February 19, 2009) How does the City of Frisco measure up? Find out at the city’s first Town Hall meeting of 2009 on Monday, February 23. The economy and its impact on the city’s budget, regional mobility and Census 2010 are among the topics to be discussed.

The meeting will be held in the City Hall council chambers of the George A. Purefoy Municipal Center, 6101 Frisco Square Boulevard. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and wraps up at 9 p.m. Residents who attend the Town Hall meeting will receive a free ‘Frisco’ tape measure to help you with your spring home improvement projects.

Learn more about Frisco’s financial forecast and what the city is doing to meet economic challenges.

Jeff Behler, Deputy Regional Director with the U.S. Census Bureau, will discuss Census 2010 and Tom Shelton, with North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), will speak about regional transportation. City staff will also provide updates on local road improvement and construction projects, as well.

Learn more about the Frisco Housing Rehabilitation Program and find out if you or your neighbor qualifies for help. Hear your neighbors’ concerns and ideas about how citizens and city staff can work together to grow healthy, sustainable neighborhoods when city staff gives a briefing about the first Congress of Neighborhoods meeting.

Learn the latest on the development of our city’s Hike and Bike Trail Master Plan and get a progress report on the tri-city Arts of Collin County project from Mike Simpson, Executive Director, Arts of Collin County.

Town Hall meetings last two hours and are held three times each year. The next two Town Hall meetings are scheduled for June 1 and October 5.

MCG - Warrant search starts today

Monday, February 16, 2009
Danny Gallagher / McKinney Courier-Gazette

McKinney and surrounding Collin County cities warn that delinquent warrant holders “could be arrested anytime” during this week’s state-wide warrant roundup

Local police agencies across Collin County and the state of Texas are looking to clear out any outstanding warrants from their books this week.

McKinney and surrounding Collin County cities are participating in this week’s “Third Annual Great Texas Warrant Roundup” as part of a statewide effort to clear out delinquent traffic violations and deter future violations and delinquencies, according to statements released by the City of McKinney and the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

The warrant searches started Monday with over 200 local and county jurisdictions participating in the statewide effort. The roundup will also include officers from local police precincts as well as sheriff’s deputies, justices of the peace, constables’ offices and municipal enforcement officers, according to NCTCOG.

The effort will focus mainly on class C misdemeanor and traffic violation warrants that have gone unpaid. McKinney city officials noted, however, that officers will attempt to serve any outstanding warrant on their books.

“The effort in McKinney will primarily target people with outstanding class C warrants, although all warrants are subject to be served,” said city of McKinney spokeswoman Anna Folmnsbee. “Anyone with an outstanding warrant or citation is urged to take care of it as soon as possible to avoid arrest.”

McKinney’s Municipal Court and Marshal’s Office have participated in the annual roundup since it started in 2007. This year’s effort will include additional officers from local local law enforcement agencies including the McKinney Police Department and McKinney’s Citizens on Patrol programs.

McKinney City Marshal Tim Rich said the designated week gives them the time and resources to broaden their search and clear out warrants that otherwise would be hard to serve during their normal course of duties.

"Because of the success of the roundup the last two years, we are broadening our target this year,” Rich said. “Anyone with an outstanding warrant could be arrested at any time of the day or night - at home or at work.”

read more....

Previous CCO posts on toll road warrants:

DO - For Whom the Toll Bells, Jan. 19, 2009

NTTA responds to "Holy fugitive, Batman", Dec. 31, 2008

Holy Fugitive, Batman, Dec. 24, 2008

Despite problems, HOV use is up on North Central Expressway

Monday, February 16, 2009
By THEODORE KIM / The Dallas Morning News

The access points are few. Lanes are narrow and often strewn with debris.

"Some years ago, transportation experts recommended that engineers reserve as much as 30 feet of road width for the project, leaving room for a shoulder and concrete barriers. The state proposed a reversible lane separated by concrete barriers that could serve traffic in one direction depending on the time of day.

State engineers later agreed to build permanent northbound and southbound lanes at the behest of the city of Richardson. As many people commute to the suburbs as to the region's core, the city argued."

Jimmy Bortzfield endures it all because the high occupancy vehicle lanes on North Central Expressway cut his trip time.

"The HOV lane is needed, but we need to be able to use it," said Bortzfield, 27, a Plano engineer who used the lane daily until recently.

Fourteen months after opening, Central's HOV lanes have been plagued by design glitches, costly maintenance and spotty enforcement. Many local leaders believe the lanes, which serve a busy stretch north of Dallas, need an overhaul.

"I don't think the HOV lanes have operated to our expectations," said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

Still, motorists are using them to save money on gas by car pooling and to sidestep chronic jams. Rush hour use is up, and the numbers are expected to grow.

"Sometimes, people are a little intimidated by something if they haven't done it before," said Gary C. Thomas, president and executive director of Dallas Area Rapid Transit. "Once they figure it out, we'll see increases."

The project is an important yardstick in the effort to curb traffic and air pollution in North Texas through car pooling and van pooling. That poses a challenge in a region built around automobile travel.

Test route
But the stakes go beyond ride sharing. The Central Expressway project is part of a 50-mile network of car pool lanes built with federal money.

And plans call for more, including lanes that solo drivers can use for a fee. Texas, in fact, is planning such toll lanes on many roads, including Interstates 30, 35E and 635.

North Central Expressway has proven an ideal test route. The 14-mile stretch from I-635 to the Allen-Plano border is a busy commuting pipeline between Dallas and its burgeoning northern suburbs.

Separated from the rest of traffic, the lanes are meant to be an express option for long-distance commuters.

So far the $19 million project, built by the Texas Department of Transportation and maintained by DART, has had mixed success.

An estimated 1,250 vehicles per hour use the lanes at the busiest times. That is up more than 70 percent from when the lanes first launched in December 2007, traffic counts show. All told, about 18,000 passengers a day rode the lanes this past December, up from 12,700 at launch.

Drivers shaved an average of 10 minutes or more off rush hour trips, said Cynthia White, a TxDOT spokeswoman.

Obstacles
But the growth has come despite myriad problems and complaints about poor enforcement of cheaters, few entrances and exits, and plastic barriers that spawn hazardous debris.

DART officials, in charge of patrolling for violators, said they have had a tough time.

"You can't patrol that thing because you can't get in and out," said Raymond Noah, a DART board member.

Some find the layout confusing. For instance, the lanes offer direct access to I-635 west. But those seeking to head south or east must exit and wait at as many as two traffic lights.

Moreover, motorists can enter the lanes only at the endpoints and in Plano near Parker Road.

Engineers purposely limited access in Richardson and other spots to keep traffic moving. But the lack of exits has puzzled some drivers.

TxDOT has added to the confusion by closing a southbound section in Plano for a year because of construction at Parker Road.

Even the plastic pylons have proved problematic. The sticks and their fragile bases shatter easily when hit, creating maintenance headaches and, in some cases, endangering driver safety.

Reckless motorists use gaps in the pylons to weave into and out of the lanes. Two people have died in the past year because of accidents caused by weaving, TxDOT said.

The problems have taken a toll. Though statistics offer a portrait of growth, the lanes appear empty most of the time. They draw but a fraction of the roughly 200,000 vehicles that use the expressway daily.

"It's a project that was calculated to do something. And it didn't work," Noah said.

Tight squeeze
Many of the problems seem to stem from the lanes' narrow design.

Some years ago, transportation experts recommended that engineers reserve as much as 30 feet of road width for the project, leaving room for a shoulder and concrete barriers. The state proposed a reversible lane separated by concrete barriers that could serve traffic in one direction depending on the time of day.

State engineers later agreed to build permanent northbound and southbound lanes at the behest of the city of Richardson. As many people commute to the suburbs as to the region's core, the city argued.

Fitting the twin lanes was a squeeze, said Bill Hale, the transportation department's Dallas district engineer. The space for each lane is about half as wide as the ideal girth, making shoulders and concrete barriers impossible.

read more....

The February edition of "Driving Forward", the NTTA's public newsletter contains an invitation for the public to help name the SH 121 toll road.

According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, Frisco Mayor Maher Maso said that NTTA long ago rejected his suggestion of any name ending with "Freeway".

Here are my suggestions...

Pick yer Pocket Parkway
Eternal Tolls Tollway

Feel free to submit your suggestions here or to the NTTA.

Bill

The Regional Transportation Council is a committee made up of elected city and county officials in the 9 county DFW planning region. The RTC is the primary planning and funds disbursement organization for all highway, rail and mobility projects that get state or federal funding. It controls literally billions of mobility dollars including the $2 billion gained from the SH 121 toll road contract with NTTA.

On Monday, February 9, the RTC is holding a public meeting at the Christopher Parr Library at 6200 Windhaven Parkway in far west Plano. The meeting will begin at 6:30 P.M.

The RTC "invites the public to learn what is happening with transportation in the region and to help set priorities for the future."

Topics to be presented include:

• Long-term planning Final recommendations for the Mobility 2030 plan.
• Short-term planning detailing the listing of transportation projects planned in the DFW region.
• Air quality conformity for all long and short range projects.
• Status of regional projects scheduled to receive federal economic recovery funds

The Collin County members of the RTC are Collin County Commissioner Joe Jaynes, Plano Councilman Lee Dunlap, NTTA Chairman Paul Wagemen (from Plano), Frisco Mayor Maher Maso and McKinney Mayor Bill Whitfield.

Unfortunately the regional planning group didn't plan for Collin County Days in Austin, to be held on the same day as the public meeting. I know Commissioner Jaynes plans to be in Austin. I don't know if any of our other representatives will be at the public meeting.

These meetings are usually held held by senior and mid-level staff at NCTCOG. I would like to see more of my elected representatives at these public meetings. They are the ones who are accountable to the taxpayers, not their staff.

I do know that I am planning on attending. One question I will ask is why the RTC does not keep a record on how its members voted. For a group that dispenses billions of dollars, it is beyond belief that the citizens can not get the basic information they need to hold their representatives accountable.

I will also be interested in the current efforts to get the $2.6 billion from the SH 121 toll road contract away from TxDOT and back in the region.

Details of the meeting plans can be found on a flyer posted on the North Central Texas Council of Governments website.

Bill

Study: Changes To US-75 HOV Lanes Dangerous

Jack Fink Reporting
RICHARDSON (CBS 11 News) ―

Thousands of drivers use the Central Expressway HOV lanes every day. There's no telling how many more might use them if there were additional entry and exit points.

But don't expect them in Richardson anytime soon. A new study says it would be too dangerous.

Ask drivers on Central Expressway in Richardson about not being able to gain access to HOV lanes there, and they'll give you an earful.

There's only one access point on the 14-mile stretch of HOV lanes between LBJ and Bethany Drive in Allen, and it's in Plano.

College student Nancy Mathias takes the highway to Dallas everyday. "There were a lot of times I was late and wanted to get into the HOV lanes - we carpool, a lot of students and I - and there was just no way... and so we were stuck behind people," she said.

Another motorist, Ryan Roberts says, "It makes it a little inconvenient just got to sit through traffic and stuff like that."

The Texas Transportation Institute conducted a study to see if they could create entry and exit points to the north and southbound HOV lanes around Collins Avenue.

But researchers found doing so would be dangerous because vehicles travel faster in the HOV lanes than in the main lanes.

So the institute says drivers would have to gun it just to enter an HOV lane safely or quickly slow down to get out of it.

Cortney Berry tries to take the HOV lanes as often as possible, but says, "If it's unsafe, clearly that would create other problems. I don't understand why it has to be here at Collins. I think something could be done to fix it."

But the study says two other areas it considered north of Collins won't work either.

Then there are the thousands of pylons that separate the HOV and main lanes. DART, which will soon give up maintenance of them to TxDOT, says it would be unsafe to remove them.

read more....

--------------------

Comment:
As soon as I see this TTI report on the web, I'll post it here.

Bill

Other CCO coverage:
US-75 HOV: What's next?Aug, 2008
Central HOV jumper causes fatality Aug, 2008

Bill Comments:

In 2001 the Texas legislature allowed for the creation of the Denton County Transit Authority.

Less than 8 years later, construction of a 21 mile rail link from Denton to DART is about to begin, at a cost of only $15 million per mile. Meanwhile buses running a full capacity transport workers from Denton County to Downtown Dallas.

I say "only $15 million" because compared to the US average cost of $35 million per mile for light rail, and the anticipated $75 million per mile (in 2008 dollars) for Collin County's Outer Loop, Denton's A-Train is a real bargain.

Meanwhile, what is Collin County doing? Building toll roads?

Bill

---------------------------------------

Denton County transit agency's rail service coming around the bend

Monday, February 2, 2009
By THEODORE KIM / The Dallas Morning News

Dallas and other cities have long held the transportation spotlight in North Texas. But Denton County has grand ambitions of its own.

Eight years after county leaders first envisioned a multimillion-dollar rail line from Denton into Dallas, the concept is nearing reality.

Stakes and spray paint mark the 21-mile train line's path, which runs not far from Interstate 35E on an old freight route. Details such as where stations will be built and what the sound barriers will look like are just about decided. Construction could start as soon as next month.

And a far-flung slice of the region now reachable only by asphalt will soon become connected to Dallas by rail.

"With this ribbon of transit, we will become more focused on the metropolitan area," Denton Mayor Mark Burroughs said.

Not all have bought into the $314 million project, known as the "A-train" and managed by the fledgling Denton County Transportation Authority.

Some believe the succession of sprawling malls and subdivisions along I-35 is hardly ideal terrain for train service. Others think the line will fail to draw many passengers when it launches in December 2010.

And though local leaders have secured the funding, critics are skeptical of whether the county can pull it off.

"We're way too early for rail," Corinth City Council member Jim Mayfield said. "Rail is the future, but it's way in the future."

Path of the A-train
Still, the vision keeps unfolding.

The diesel line will start in downtown Denton and move south through five stops – one south of Denton, one in Highland Village and two in Lewisville – before ending in Carrollton around Trinity Mills.

Getting from the A-train to DART's future Green Line will take a short walk across the station platform. A typical trip from Denton to downtown Dallas using both lines will take some 70 minutes.

Denton retirees Gary and Cheryl Christopherson said a rail option has become all but a necessity for the fast-growing county – population 600,000 and rising. "This is a good first step," said Gary Christopherson, 68, a retired computer engineer.

Supporters believe the A-train will help curtail air pollution and give commuters a welcome alternative to I-35E, a snarling river of traffic, ramps and merging lanes. The train line is pegged to open just as the interstate is scheduled for a major face-lift.

"The big game plan is getting as many people off the roads as possible," said Dianne Costa, mayor of Highland Village.

The University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University also stand to benefit. Both Denton schools are home to many students and staff whose only option right now is to drive between Dallas and Denton County.

"This project will make it clear that we are part of the vibrant growth of the region," said UNT President Gretchen Bataille.

Quick action
Big-ticket public projects often take decades to build. This endeavor has come at lightning speed.

State lawmakers passed a measure in 2001 allowing Denton to form a local transportation authority. County voters later overwhelmingly supported the idea.

In 2003, Denton, Highland Village and Lewisville approved a half-cent sales tax increase to help pay for the project. That money, plus a $250 million infusion from the State Highway 121 toll road deal, will help cover construction.

read more....

February 9 and 10 are Collin County Days at the Texas Legislature.

Local Chambers of Commerce have for the past several years sponsored events and a trip to Austin for community leaders and citizens during Collin County Days. There are usually several opportunities to meet and network with state leaders and the local legislative delegation. And so it is this year.

Governor Rick Perry will give the keynote address at the opening luncheon.

I am giving some serious thought to attending. I even scheduled vacation time for those 2 days. The $125 registration fee didn't seem overly expensive, since there was a lunch reception included. But then I read the planned schedule of events.

The program includes a series of informal panel discussions. Looking at some of the leaders of those panels I realized that I would be paying $125 to listen to lobbyists' propaganda.

Jeeze, I can get that kind of networking for free listening to Rush Limbaugh on WBAP. Why the heck would I want to pay for these lobbyists to tell me anything?

For example, the healthcare panel is to be led by Arlene Wohlgemuth, Founder and President, Three Point Strategies. I've called Ms. Wohlgemuth the "Pied Piper of Texas", as she played a legislative tune while leading hundreds of thousands of poor children off a cliff.

Ms. Wohlgemuth was a Republican legislator instrumental in the ruinous privatization of Texas's social service system. Her role and the disastrous effects to the poor of that privatization was graphically documented in a recent Dallas Morning News investigative report titled "State of Neglect". Ms. Wohlgemuth's firm, Three Point Strategies lobbies the legislature primarily on behalf of health care companies.

The Taxes and Spending panel is led by Michael Quinn Sullivan, a lobbyist and conservative activist, and former press secretary for Ron Paul. He is described as a devotee of the "Austrian School of Economics", which believes in a radical laissez faire government policy. He is presently the director of Empower Texans, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility and the Empower Texans PAC.

The other two panels are not led by lobbyists, but by State officials.

The Energy Panel is led by Barry Smitherman, the Chairman of the Public Utility Commission. His PUC is largely responsible for the fact that Texans pay some of the highest electricity prices in the nation.

The other panelist is Dub Taylor, the Director of the Comptroller’s State Energy Conservation Office. Mr. Taylor had previously served on the Texas Railroad Commission and now is a leader of the state's efforts towards energy efficiency and sustainability.

The Transportation panel will be chaired by Steven Polunsky, the Committee Director, Texas Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security. Mr. Polunsky is a former policy maker at TxDot and was Director of Research at the now defunct Texas High-Speed Rail Authority. The Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corp., an outgrowth of the High Speed Rail Authority gave a presentation to the Commissioners Court last week. The Collin County Commissioners declined to endorse its plans believing them to be too expensive and not cost effective.

There's no balance on the discussion panels. No representatives from Common Cause, from the Center for Public Policy Priorities, Public Citizen or from any group except right-wing lobbyists and state agencies. While some of the speakers, especially Mssrs. Polunsky and Taylor can offer some real technical insight into the issues, only one works at the legislature. This is supposed to be a legislative trip.

Where are our state legislative leaders on these 4 subjects? I'd really like to hear from Dallas's Senator Carona the chair of the Transportation Committee on our $1.2 billion of SH121 funds,. Or from our own Senator Shapiro on the effects of property tax cap bills on education.

Businesses and citizens in Collin County have a real stake in many of the deliberations of the 81st Legislature. They deserve the respect of our state leadership. Instead, it appears my $125 would go largely for attendance at a far right pep rally.

That's too bad.

Bill

The Collin County Commissioners, acting for the first time as the Collin County Toll Road Authority (CCTRA), met on Tuesday. The Directors of the Authority are the County Judge and County Commissioners. They listened to a presentation on the status and costs to complete the controversial Outer Loop project.

Last year, the Collin County Commissioners Court, disappointed in the way TxDOT handled the financing of SH 121 and seeing no way to insure state or federal funding for large road projects such as the Outer Loop, formed the Collin County Toll Road Authority.

Recent state and federal legislation had made it possible for a regional or county toll authority, such as the CCTRA to pursue alternative financing schemes in order to build new roads, and to have the authority to preempt TxDOT in controlling the future of specific road building projects, while keeping financial revenue local.

The alternative financing schemes are generally private or public contractors leasing the rights to build and operate the new highways as toll roads. Frequently, the contractor must pay a large "upfront" payment in exchange for the right to build and operate the tollway. The county, not the State of Texas would collect and keep the upfront fees and excess toll revenue.

There are few other "County Toll Authorities" in Texas. Besides the new Collin County Toll Authority, Harris and Montgomery counties have formed their own toll road operations.

Collin County has been struggling to find a way to finance its portion of the Outer Loop. State and federal funds are increasingly scarce. As a result, toll roads have become the default mechanism of choice for funding new road construction.

The commissioners court wanted to both finance the new highway and generate revenue for future mobility projects.

The Outer Loop was conceived by local planners as a regional beltway around the DFW metroplex. The Collin County portion is the "upside down L" shaped turn from the road's northern segment to the eastward run. The eastern part of the Loop is in far east Collin County running north from the Rockwall County line (south of Nevada) past US 380 and turning east north of Blue Ridge, then intersecting with the Dallas North Tollway at the Denton County line between Prosper and Celina.

Other regional segments of the Outer Loop run west of Fort Worth and south of Dallas.

Besides the Outer Loop the CCTRA hopes to develop the future Phase 4B of the Dallas North Tollway from FM 428 to the Grayson County line.

Much to the displeasure of the Commissioners Court, NTTA had proposed moving most of the Phase 4B tollway extension into Denton County.

Because of the anticipated development generated by the highway, the Court wanted to keep the road in Collin County. By using their newly created Tollway Authority, the commissioners hope to gain the priority claim to the rights to construct and operate this northernmost extension of the Dallas North Tollway.

Actual construction of these roads is several years out. Right now, the CCTRA is in the process of determining the exact path the road will travel, getting the engineering done, and acquiring the land for the right of way.

No decisions have been made as to who would operate the toll roads or how much the tolls would cost consumers.

Bill

Perry supports North Texas rail plan

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News

Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday that he supports the Rail North Texas plan that would give North Texas counties the right to hold elections to raise perhaps billions of dollars over the next 15 years to pay for new suburban rail lines and other projects.

"I am a very strong proponent of having the local officials make those decisions," Perry said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. "If the solution is to be found for that type of transit, it is going to be found at the local level, with a regional approach."

While noting that he generally opposes higher taxes, he said that wouldn't keep him from signing a bill giving local counties the right to raise local taxes or fees for rail.

"I don't have an entrenched opposition that would deny people at the local level the right to make this decision," he said.

In the hour-long interview Tuesday, Perry, who will deliver his State of the State address Jan. 28, also said he will urge the Texas Legislature to increase state transportation funding by as much as $750 million a year.

The rail plan has been endorsed by the Regional Transportation Council and dozens of local cities, including the Dallas City Council. It would allow counties to hold elections to impose new fees and taxes to pay for up to 212 miles of rail connecting suburbs. In cities where taxpayers already support rail through membership in DART or Fort Worth's transit agency, some of those new funds could be used for other transportation needs.

The governor's vote of confidence for the bill, which could be changed significantly by lawmakers, comes as the RTC is trying to line up support among members of the Legislature from North Texas.

If passed, the bill would give each county the option of imposing a mix of new fees and taxes – including higher property tax rates, a new $150 vehicle registration fee, a new one-time fee for new residents, or a combination of several new sources of revenue. Voters in each county would have to approve the new fees or taxes before they could take effect.

In calling for up to $750 million in additional annual funding for TxDOT?, Perry is proposing a complete halt to the use of motor-fuels taxes for purposes other than transportation. Currently, lawmakers divert about $1.5 billion in gas taxes every two years to pay for the Department of Public Safety and other needs.

"You prioritize what's important to you," Perry said. "I don't know if you cut something or not, but you go find the money. I know we are going to have a tight budget, but you prioritize. What's more important – building transportation infrastructure in your area, or is some other thing more important?"

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and other legislative leaders have already agreed to reduce the so-called diversions from the gas-tax account but have said they will probably do so over several years given the slowing Texas economy. On Tuesday, Dewhurst filed a budget bill that would restore just $150 million a year in funding now diverted to other uses.

When asked if he is calling for an end to all diversions, Perry said Tuesday: "I am. That's our position, all of it."

read more....

Jim Schutze's Dallas Observer articles are typically long, well researched and opinionated.

This piece on the North Texas Tollway Authority is no different. However, Shutze does offer some real insights on the whole confusing process that lead our county to dealing with over 12,000 "failure to pay toll" warrants.

Bill

---------------------------------------------------
For Whom the Toll Bells

The North Texas Tollway Authority exacts a stiff price for those who drive willy-nilly on its highways

By Jim Schutze
January 14, 2009 / The Dallas Observer

Certain things you can do that might turn out very badly for you. Borrowing money from the Mafia, for example. Posing naked for a photographer who is a stranger.

But who worries about driving down a toll road? I can tell you who should: You!

Over the last several years I have received numerous phone calls, letters and e-mails from people complaining that they have been hit with huge, totally unexpected bills for unpaid tolls and associated fines.

For a long time, I brushed these aside. I thought, "Well, you know, people should pay their tolls."

But most of the people calling me don't sound like folks who regularly skip on restaurant tabs or jump over turnstiles. I made up my mind a few weeks ago that the next time I got one of these complaints, I would stop whatever I was doing and take a look. I didn't have long to wait. On a Monday morning I found a phone message from Rick Johns, a probation officer in Tarrant County.

Johns had just received a bill from the North Texas Tollway Authority for $337 for four trips on the President George Bush Turnpike, which runs from near the D/FW Airport east to the vicinity of Rowlett on Lake Ray Hubbard.

For the first trip, which he made a year and a half ago, he was charged at a rate of $3 in tolls and $100 in "administrative fees." The second trip, made about a year ago, was billed at $3 in tolls and $75 in fees. Another cruise down the PGBT the following day cost him $2 in tolls and 50 bucks in fees.

The most recent trip, his most expensive, was made last May and billed at $4 in tolls and $100 in fees.

According to Johns, this statement was the first notification of any kind telling him he owed the NTTA money. His claim—that this was a first notice—was backed up by the notice itself, of which he gave me a copy, and by the NTTA's own description of its billing practices when I called them. The NTTA didn't comment on Johns' case specifically.

Before I even venture into the question of the billing practices, let's you and I see if we can figure out how a normal, law-abiding citizen—a parole officer in this case—gets behind the eight-ball to the tune of three C-notes in unpaid toll road fees.

Johns drives to the Dallas side of the metropolitan area for his son's baseball games. He used to drive on the State Highway 121 tollway between Coppell and Lewisville.

There are no tollbooths on 121. Therefore it is not possible to pay your tolls as you go. Cameras along the way take pictures of you as you pass. If you do not have an electronic TollTag on your windshield connected to a credit card, the NTTA bills you by mail for the amount of your tolls.

Johns didn't have a Dallas-area TollTag. Didn't want one. Was happy to pay by mail. Did so. He even thought mistakenly that he was paying a little extra and didn't mind.

"I was under the impression that the toll may have been even 25 cents higher per toll by not stopping and paying, and I didn't have a problem with that."

He says he paid those bills when he got them. Never had a problem. So where did he do wrong? He started driving on another NTTA toll road—the President George Bush Turnpike. There, the rules are different.

As explained to me by NTTA spokeswoman Sherita Coffelt, the difference is that the PGBT does have tollbooths, while the 121 tollway does not. Coffelt said that wherever there are tollbooths, a motorist who does not have a TollTag must stop and pay cash. Where there are no tollbooths, a motorist does not have to stop and pay cash.

When a motorist is not required to stop and pay cash, he will be billed for the amount of his toll only. When he is required to stop and pay cash but does not, he's a toll jumper. He will be billed for the amount of his toll plus a $25 penalty called an "administrative fee."

No signs along the road warn motorists of this difference. Coffelt told me it's the motorist's obligation to know the rules.

Each skipped toll station incurs a new $25 administrative fee. On his jaunt down the PGBT last May, Johns passed by four toll stations, each one of which took a picture of his license plate and billed him for a $1 toll plus a $25 administrative fee. So four times $26 amounted to a bill for $104, a tab he racked up for 33 minutes of driving.

But wait. We're not done with the different rules on how to pay your toll. There is a third rule. On the Dallas North Tollway, you can pay cash, so if you don't have a TollTag you must pay cash, and if you don't pay cash you'll be billed for the tolls plus the $25 fees. But you can't pay cash.

Say what?

read more....

1. DA John Roach standing in court with his shirt tails hanging out, telling a judge, "I knew about Sue and Tom the whole time, neener neener."
2. Judge Keith Self and Commissioner Jerry Hoagland featured on a Friday night WWE match, with proceeds benefiting the Plano Children's Clinic.
3. The NTTA declaring "Warrantless Wednesdays" and "Toll Free Fridays".
4. TxDOT giving the SH121 money back after the Collin County legislative delegation threatens to kick their ass if they don't.
5. The Fusion Center actually doing something useful.
6. Sam Johnson bringing a nice fat transportation grant check to Collin County.
7. The opening of a new highway that doesn't charge by the mile.
8. Sheriff Box giving NTTA their 12,000 warrants back with a note, "Do it yourself."
9. The County buying a software package that actually works and saves money.
10. Jerry Hoagland caught in an airport restroom with an unnamed US Senator.

Bill

Council OKs $1.1M for DART complex
Theodore Kim / The Dallas Morning News
January 4, 2009

Plano's City Council has agreed to pay a Seattle-based development firm up to $1.1 million in taxpayer money for a new apartment and retail complex on the downtown DART rail line.