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Texas legislators are ready to snip the Texas Department of Transportation's credit cards. They say the agency has borrowed too much money - nearly $18 billion - because the state lacks the cash to build the projects needed to keep up with growth.
Photo: ehow.com
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Updated at 2:15 p.m.
Getting Texas 360 extended from Arlington to Mansfield beginning in 2015 became a lot more realistic Friday, after the North Texas Tollway Authority approved a deal to develop the toll project in a partnership with another agency.
Texas 360 will be extended as a toll road from Sublett Road/Camp Wisdom Road to U.S. 287, with the Texas Department of Transportation doing the initial design and construction and then turning over the road to the tollway authority, to be operated and maintained as part of the region's now-vast tollway system.
The state transportation department can pay for the initial work with project-backed debt, a federal transportation infrastructure loan (TIFIA loan) or cash from the state's highway fund, according to the agreement.
Here's a copy of the resolution and term sheet, if you'd like to read it yourself
The agreement calls for four main lanes as far south as Broad Street, and two main lanes from Broad Street to U.S. 287. Frontage road improvements are also in the mix. The project is expected to cost about $600 million.
Any toll revenues left over after the debt, operations and maintenance expenses are paid will be split evenly between the two agencies. The state transportation department will focus its share of the funds on improving the Texas 360 corridor north of the project. For example, some of the funds could eventually be used to improve the Texas 360/Interstate 30 interchange, although a timetable for such work isn't spelled out.
Depending upon how the environmental study of this route goes, a realistic goal is to get the project under construction by 2015. Under that scenario, the road could be open to traffic by 2017, said Texas Transportation Commission member William "Bill" Meadows of Fort Worth. Meadows worked closely with tollway authority officials to reach an agreement.
The Texas Transportation Commission will consider approving the deal during a meeting in late February. Pending that approval, both sides would then need to put the final touches on a development agreement by March.
The tollway authority has dramatically expanded its role in providing mobility options for North Texas motorists during the past decade, beginning with the Sam Rayburn Tollway in Denton and Collin counties. The tollway authority also extended the President George Bush Turnpike into Grand Prairie and Irving, and inked a deal to build the Chisholm Trail Parkway from downtown Fort Worth to Cleburne.
But arranging all that work has come at a whopper of a cost. The tollway authority is now servicing $9.5 billion worth of debt and, although it probably could have issued more, didn't want to go deeper in the red to build the Texas 360 extension. So, the next best thing was to tap into the borrowing power of the Texas Department of Transportation, and that's the essence of the agreement reached Friday.
"It preserves our funding to use on future roads as they come up," said tollway authority board member Victor Vandergriff of Arlington, who will be leaving the board at the end of the month.
The tollway authority gets to add Texas 360 to its growing portfolio of toll roads. The Texas Department of Transportation gets the benefit of traffic relief at essentially no cost - the agency does pay for Texas 360 expansion up front, but will get its money back.
"We get it back over time," Meadows said.
And Texas motorists will get the immediate benefit of a road expansion that, were they left to use only traditional forms of funding, they might not be able to afford for another 20 years.
“Traffic congestion on SH 360 is a serious quality of life, economic, and safety issue for families and businesses in southeast Tarrant County," state Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, said in an email. In 2009 and 2010, Turner organized community leaders in Arlington, Grand Prairie and Mansfield to work together and see the Texas 360 project through to completion.
"Today's decision by the NTTA," he said, "is a significant step forward in solving this problem."
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DFW AIRPORT - More than a fourth of Texas' 100 top transportation challenges are in the Dallas Fort Worth area, a report released Thursday concluded.
The worst roads include two sections of Interstate 35W north of downtown Fort Worth - although both areas are scheduled for improvements over the next couple of years.
Still, the report on deficient roads was released Thursday by local and national advocates, who called on the Texas Legislature to increase Texas highway funding to avoid stumping the state's economic growth.
"The consequence of not making these improvements is severe," said Carolyn Bonifas Kelly, associate director of research for TRIP, Washington-based organization supported by insurance and construction companies and other businesses that favor increased highway funding.
Gathering at Dallas Fort Worth Airport's headquarters, officials from TRIP, the Texas Good Roads and Transportation Association and other groups called for lawmakers to embrace new funding sources for Texas highways.
Texas, which relies mostly on motor fuels taxes to pay for roads, is losing ground in trying to keep up with its mobility needs, said Lawrence Olsen, executive vice president of Texas Good Roads. In recent years, lawmakers have allowed the Texas Department of Transportation to issue bond-backed debt to temporarily make up for a lack of road funding. But, Olsen said, the new reality of now making regular installment payments on that debt has made the long-term funding picture more bleak.
"Now when TxDot does its budget it takes $2 billion off the top for debt," Olsen said. "That's money that's not going to these projects."
Among the local projects listed on the report's top 100 Texas transportation challenges:
During the current legislative session, lawmakers are being asked to get serious about providing better long-term funding sources for transportation. Rider Scott, executive director of the Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition, said a growing number of state residents is calling for elected leaders to find the funds to fix the state's crumbling roads.
Among the suggestions is that the state stop diverting transportation funds to non-transportation projects, which could generate about $1.2 billion per year. Another idea would be to dedicate sales taxes paid on automobile purchases to the state's Fund 6 highway fund, rather than the general fund, which would raise another $3 billion.
Of course, both of those ideas would create funding gaps in other state programs.
Similar reports were released nearly simultaneously in other Texas metro areas.
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12:25 a.m. update: Here's a link to an updated version of the story with more details about Vandergriff's potential interest in the job of Arlington mayor, as it appears in the Thursday Star-Telegram edition.
Arlington businessman Victor Vandergriff announced Wednesday that he is leaving the North Texas Tollway Authority board, a position he has held since 2007.
Vandergriff was chairman of the board in 2010 and 2011, taking over from predecessor Paul Wageman of Plano, who guided the agency through tremendous growth but was sometimes criticized for aggressive management.
The decision takes effect at the end of the month, a tollway official said.
Vandergriff attempted to unify the board, but was unable to pass through sweeping changes on the tollway authority's reliance on a small number of legal, engineering and other professional firms to do virtually all of its day-to-day work. So he stepped down as chairman and was replaced by former Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr, the current chairman.
Still, Vandergriff received a standing ovation from the tollway board during a meeting Wednesday in Plano.
Vandergriff was a vocal member of the board when key projects were delivered, including the Sam Rayburn Tollway in Denton and Collin counties, and the western extension of the President George Bush Turnpike in Grand Prairie and Irving (a key route to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington).
“We cannot thank Victor enough for the countless hours he has dedicated to working on NTTA projects that increase mobility for North Texas drivers,” Barr said in a statement.
He also oversaw the conversion of the region's tollways to an all-electronic form of collection - essentially doing away with the toll booths - and the beginning of construction on the 28-mile Chisholm Trail Parkway project from Interstate 30 near downtown Fort Worth to U.s. 67 in Cleburne.
Chisholm Trail Parkway is scheduled for completion in 2014.
More recently, Vandergriff was trying to secure construction of the Texas 360 extension south of Arlington-Mansfield to U.S. 287.
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Motorists who refuse to pay tolls would be unable to renew yearly car registrations in North Texas’ four largest counties, under a state law change the North Texas Tollway Authority is seeking in the current legislative session.
“What were talking about is tightening the system so people know there are consequences,” said tollway chairman Kenneth Barr, former Fort Worth mayor. Barr stressed that the tougher punishments would only be sought for car owners who had racked up 100 or more unpaid tolls, and failed to respond to at least 16 written notices.
Although roughly 92 percent of drivers on the region’s tollways pay their bills on time, scofflaws are costing the tollway authority big bucks, he said. The Plano-based agency lost $12.5 million last year in unpaid tolls – many from motorists who are still using the roads to this day.
“What we’re talking about here are people who are gaming the system,” he said.
Tollway officials are still seeking a lawmaker who might be willing to carry such a bill. March 8 is the state’s deadline for filing bills, other than local bills and those considered emergencies. The bill would affect car owners in Tarrant, Denton, Dallas and Collin counties, which are the four counties that make up the tollway authority’s territory. Johnson County will be added to the mix after the planned opening of Chisholm Trail Parkway, a 28-mile toll road from downtown Fort Worth to Cleburne, in 2014.
It’s the agency’s latest attempt to close an enforcement weakness that became glaringly apparent after the Dallas Fort Worth area’s toll roads were converted to an all-electronic system in 2010. Officials quickly found out that, without manned toll booths as a deterrent, there really isn’t much they can do to stop people from skipping out on their tolls.
The tollway authority did have some success the past six months publicizing the names of car owners with 100 or more unpaid tolls on its website. Since that list went live in July, about $1.86 million has been recovered, said communications director Kimberly Jackson. But to capture the rest of the missing money, the agency needs enforcement with more teeth, said executive director Gerry Carrigan. The idea, he said, is to protect the overwhelming majority of motorists who drive the roads legally – many of whom pay automatically through a TollTag on their windshield. “We don’t want to be punitive,” he said. “We want to keep our good customers good, and provide some punishment for the small percentage who don’t pay.”
In addition to blocking car registrations, the tollway authority also is seeking the state’s permission to create a legal process known as an administrative hearing. Officials stressed that it would not be a court, but it would resemble a courtroom proceeding in the sense that those with unpaid tolls would be given a chance to explain their tardiness and make payment or settlement arrangements. The administrative hearing would occur before the tollway authority attempted to block car registrations.
he tollway authority also is seeking power to “ban” habitual toll violators from the 850-plus miles of tollways in the Metroplex. Car owners who were banned from the roads but continued to use them would be considered trespassing, making them subject to arrest.
At least one other tolling agency in Texas, the Harris County Toll Road Authority, already has the ability to block car registrations in the Houston area.
Officials in Tarrant, Denton, Dallas and Collin counties have been unable to mutually agree on a system for blocking vehicle registrations at the local level, Barr said.
However, the commissioners courts in all four counties have passed resolutions endorsing the tollway authority’s proposed legislation, Carrigan said.
Gordon Dickson, 817-390-7796 Twitter: @gdickson
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ARLINGTON - A new stretch of the President George Bush Turnpike is NOW open, giving motorists who are willing to pay a toll a true alternative to congestion on Texas 360 in the Arlington-Grand Prairie area.
“It will be a vast area connecting to south Arlington and Mansfield. It has been a long time coming, and it feels great spending all these years working to get projects done,” said Victor Vandergriff of Arlington, a North Texas Tollway Authority board member.
The new 6.5-mile western extension of the turnpike from Egyptian Way – which is just north of Interstate 30 – to Interstate 20 is open for Monday morning rush hour, tollway officials said. The extension was originally known as Texas 161, but in 2010 the tollway authority took over construction of the project from the Texas Department of Transportation.
The speed limit initially will be 70 mph, although tollway officials say they’ll conduct a speed study to determine a permanent speed. Speed limits will be lower in construction areas, as workers put the final touches on the project by spring. For example, the frontage roads are still under construction at the railroad crossings between Main and Jefferson Streets in Grand Prairie, and scheduled to open by the end of the year. Also, interchange with I-30 eight direct-connector ramps, but only five will be completed by this weekend, with the other three scheduled to open by spring.
The Bush Turnpike western extension is a north-south road, running parallel to Texas 360 about two miles to the east. It gives motorists willing to pay a toll a legitimate alternative to sitting in congestion. On Texas 360, traffic regularly grinds to a halt at Division Street in east Arlington, and at Texas 183 in Irving. With the opening of the western extension, the Bush Turnpike will now be 52 miles long, stretching across the northern half of the greater Dallas area.
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What do you call toll lanes - especially those embedded in the median of a freeway that is otherwise non-toll?
Lexus lanes? Carpool lanes? HOV lanes?
If you've got a creative idea for a name, you could win up to $2,500 worth of gas.
The folks rebuilding Loop 820 and Texas 121/183 in Northeast Tarrant County - a project known as North Tarrant Express - as well as the LBJ Express project in north Dallas are putting together a naming contest.
To get all the grimy details, go to namethelanes.com.
The contest is being launched as officials with the North Central Texas Council of Governments initiate the very complicated process of integrating the region's existing high-occupancy vehicle lanes with the plethora of managed toll lanes that are under construction on projects such as North Tarrant Express.
"It helps us with the education process, letting people know how these express lanes, managed lanes or whatever you want to call them are supposed to work," said Robert Hinkle, spokesman for NTE Mobility Partners.
The contest will continue for about six weeks. The first leg of LBJ is expected to be completed by late 2013 and North Tarrant Express is scheduled to be complete by June 2015.
Winners will be chosen randomly. The grand prize is a $2,500 gas card, and other prizes will be offered as well.
Photo: hvceo.org
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ARLINGTON - North Texas Tollway Authority officials made headlines this week when they released the names of nearly 26,000 motorists who had refused to pay 100 or more tolls. But the agency's crackdown on scofflaws is far from over.
The Plano-based tollway authority also plans to ask the Texas Legislature's permission to begin "booting" cars owned by people who haven't paid their tolls. The system would work much like enforcement actions in many cities with parking meters. If someone gets tickets at expired meters and refuses to pay the fines, a boot order is issued and the next time the vehicle is caught in a parking space a giant, metal object is clamped onto one of the vehicle's wheels - making it impossible to drive away.
The offender then has to go to court and make good on the past-due account before getting the boot removed from his or her ride.
"It's probably a last resort, but for those who have seen 'Parking Wars,' it's probably an effective tool," tollway authority executive director Gerry Carrigan told members of the Regional Transportation Council Thursday during a meeting in Arlington. Carrigan was referring to the A&E television show "Parking Wars," which follows officers along on parking enforcement patrols that often lead to conflicts with stressed-out car owners.
Photo: Philadelphia.grubstreet.com
The tollway authority also plans to ask the Lege permission to block annual vehicle registration renewals of those who refuse to pay their bills on the Dallas-Fort Worth tollway system. Such a practice is already in place in Houston's Harris County, but in North Texas legislative action is required because the tollway authority crosses the boundaries of four counties.
Car owners who repeatedly refuse to pay tolls also would be "banned" from using the tollway system in the future, and the most egregious users could face lawsuits.
Cracking down on those with past-due tolls has become an issue since 2010, when the entire tollway system was converted to all-electronic. Most regular users place a TollTag on their windshield, and deduct tolls through a pre-paid account. Others can then simply drive the tollways, and a camera system takes pictures of their license plates and sends them a bill. But that camera system has left the tollway authority vulnerable to motorists who use the pavement with no intention of ever paying.
An estimated $12.5 million in past-due tolls is outstanding, officials say.
Regional transportation leaders support the tollway authority's stepped-up collection efforts.
Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said his staff recently heard support for cracking down on scofflaws during public meetings in which the need for additional transportation funding was discussed. One controversial topic point was the possibility that annual registration fees might be raised to increase revenue for road work and other transportation projects.
"What we heard was, why aren't you guys enforcing what' s already out there before you ask us for more?" Morris said. "Why don't people have car insurance? How do people drive around with an unregistered vehicle? Why don't they have driver's licenses?"
Fort Worth Transportation Authority board member Gary Cumbie added: "These are not people just beating an agency out of its money. This is the region's money. This is money used to build our transportation needs. It's our money."
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The North Texas Tollway Authority this morning went live with its online list of top violators. Go here to check whether you're on the list. The Plano-based agency is hoping to capture some of the roughly $12.5 million in past-due tolls.
Amber Young of Dallas holds the top spot on the list. She reportedly owes NTTA $179,596.43 for 8,366 toll violations.
At a first glance, it appears there are no Fort Worth or Arlington-area vehicle owners on the list of top 100 violators. The overwhelming majority of violators live in Denton and Collin counties, as well as far north Dallas County.
There is a pocket of more than 100 violators in Arlington's 76010 ZIP code, however. Those residents are very close to the new President George Bush Turnpike western extension (formerly Texas 161 in Irving and Grand Prairie).
Fort Worth-area residents will become much more familiar with tolls and toll violations in the next few years, as projects such as the Chisholm Trail Parkway project open up in Tarrant and Johnson counties.
Also, the North Tarrant Express and DFW Connector projects in Northeast Tarrant County include the addition of new managed toll lanes as well as rebuilt free lanes, so motorists who use those improved roads will be making a daily choice whether to pay tolls.
