Honkin' Mad

Private investment in toll roads - a potential multi-TRILLION dollar industry #fundingtransport

@gdickson

I have returned from a fantastic week covering the International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany. Here's a story that ran in the Wednesday's edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about the 54 nations approving a declaration in support of private investment in roads. Among the speakers was a chief executive at MacQuarie Group Ltd., one of the world's top private transportation investment firms - and he said the universe of pension, equity and other funds available for investment in infrastructure for pretty much any nation that wants to take advantage of it is in the neighborhood of $27 TRILLION.

That's so-o-o- much money, one has to wonder if it's enough to literally solve the world's congestion problems ... or at least put a serious dent in them. But do we want that much private investment in roads? Do we want any more investment than we already have?

I found the trip to Germany to be a fantastic learning experience, and over the next several weeks I hope to write some more stories that explore these funding issues.

In the mean time, please consider these initial stories a conversation starter, and send me a note to gdickson@star-telegram.com if you'd like to ask any questions or suggest a story idea.

@gdickson

p.s. To pay for the trip to Germany, I was one of 35 journalists from around the globe (3 in the U.S) awarded a grant from the International Transport Forum's media travel programme.

Win free gas in naming contest for Loop 820, LBJ toll lanes

@gdickson

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

Tollway authority wants to 'boot' cars of motorists who don't pay tolls

@gdickson

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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Life's no beach on Beach Street in Fort Worth - but someday it'll be a legit alternative to I-35W

North Beach Street is a sea of brake lights, especially around Loop 820, where construction of the $2.5 billion North Tarrant Express project has the road even more congested than usual.

Promise of DFW Connector, other good roads, helped bring Deloitte University to Fort Worth's Alliance area (Westlake)

The promise that $1 billion would be spent widening the Texas 114/121 DFW Connector in Grapevine helped lure Deliotte University to Fort Worth's Alliance area, a company executive says.

"What drew us to put the university in place here was effective infrastructure, access to DFW Airport and Love Field," Peter Sackleh, director of strategic implementation, told about 100 members of the Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition Wednesday morning during a get-together in downtown Fort Worth. "We've got people coming in from around the country and the world."

The DFW Connector project, which began in 2010 and is ahead of its scheduled 2014 completion date, includes the reconstruction and expansion of some of the main freeways leading to and from Dallas Fort Worth Airport, as well as the airport's north entrance.

Sackleh also said he supports efforts to expand Interstate 35W in Fort Worth, and to extend commuter rail and other transit services to the Alliance area.

Deloitte University serves as a humongous training center for one of the nation's largest accounting and consulting firms. The five-story building, which opened in October in the tiny enclave of Westlake, has about 500 employees and at any given time is hosting about 800 visitors. The typical stay for each visitor is about three and a half days, Sackleh said. For the most part, guests at Deloitte U. are either professionals who have traveled to Westlake for a few days of professional training, or people who have flown in to provide the training.

The resort-like university is near Texas 114 and Dove Road.

@gdickson

Texas likely to lease out more highway/toll projects to developers

Many Texans oppose leasing road projects to developers -- often foreign corporations -- for up to 52 years, but cash-strapped lawmakers say they'll likely allow a small number of those projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Houston. MORE

-- Gordon Dickson, gdickson@star-telegram.com

Twitter: @gdickson

Highway 114 near Texas Motor Speedway to be expanded

 

 

Racing fans go to Texas Motor Speedway to watch drivers swerve and try to avoid pileups, but on Texas 114 just outside the speedway that sort of dangerous driving is the last thing most motorists want to see.

But despite massive growth in the far north Fort Worth area, Texas 114 remains a dangerous, two-lane choke point. However, some Denton County officials will announce Wednesday that they’ve given the green flag to a plan that aims to make the highway safer.

"This stretch of road has a rather high level of truck traffic, lots of gravel trucks, and we need to separate that traffic and have more lanes," said Denton County Commissioner Andy Eads, who spearheaded the effort to fix Texas 114.

Eads and other dignitaries will announce their plans for Texas 114 at 2 p.m. today outside the speedway.

A two-lane stretch of Texas 114 from Interstate 35W to Farm Road 156 will be expanded to four lanes during the next 27 months, Eads and other political and business leaders explained. The $15.3 million project is being paid for mostly with Denton County bond funds, and the county’s portion of regional toll revenue from the Sam Rayburn Tollway project in the Lewisville-Carrollton area.

 The improvements on about two miles of Texas 114 immediately south of the speedway are the first of three phases of improvements planned for the corridor. The second phase, which officials hope to launch next year, involves expanding Texas 114 to four lanes even further west – from FM 156 to the Wise County line – and a third phase involves the reconstruction of the Texas 114/FM 156 interchange, including removal of BNSF freight railroads tracks in the area.

Fort Worth-based BNSF has already agreed to move its tracks over the next couple of years, Eads said. Other officials credited Eads with advancing the project by holding monthly meetings with property owners, utilities, the speedway and others to ensure the work got underway before the end of the year. The Texas Department of Transportation, which owns Texas 114, also was involved in the talks and is on the hook for most of the estimated $40 million that will be needed to buy right-of-way for road expansion.

But it’s not too steep of a price to pay for road safety, officials said.

For speedway officials, the great concern was getting the project done without making traffic more of a headache for people traveling to events there, especially on busy race weekends.

Part of the negotiations involved the contractor, Mario Sinacola and Sons of Frisco, agreeing to schedule construction around major events such as NASCAR races, officials said.

Gordon Dickson, 817-390-7796 

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Is Dallas-Fort Worth being punished for building toll roads?

The Regional Transportation Council is asking the state to slam the brakes on spending $1.8 billion in voter-approved bond funds to improve Texas roads, arguing that Dallas-Fort Worth isn't getting its share of funds from the pot of money.

When Dallas-Fort Worth officials several years ago began aggressively developing toll projects to make up for a lack of state gas tax funds, they were assured by the Texas Department of Transportation that when future sources of state funding came along the Metroplex wouldn't be penalized and would still get its share.

But now, the transportation department next week is poised to approve the expenditure of $1.85 billion in voter-approved Proposition 12 bond projects statewide, and the North Texas area is slated to get only about $126 of that booty.

"It's just not right," said Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, RTC chairman. "We were very adamant about this in the early days of the 121 toll project. We were told that if we were going to step up and do this, there were promises made to us on the DFW Connector, I-35W."

The RTC unanimously agreed Thursday by voice vote to send a letter to the Texas Transportation Commission, asking that action be delayed on next week's scheduled approval of roughly $1.8 billion in road projects that would be paid for with Proposition 12 bond funds. The commission meets Nov. 19 in Austin.

Proposition 12 was approved by voters in 2007 as a way to bolster the state's chronically short highway fund. In all, voters agreed to leverage up to $5 billion, and the state Legislature earlier this year directed the transportation department to spend the first $1.85 billion immediately.

Projects tentatively selected for Prop 12 funding included expansion of I-35 in McLennan and Hill counties, near the north central Texas communitiies of Waco and Hillsboro, as well as in Bell County between Waco and Austin. Large amounts of funding were also selected for highways in El Paso, Houston and San Antonio.

The Metroplex is slated to receive about $126 million in Prop 12 funding, but that's just a fraction of the $435 million the region should be receiving, based upon its population and statewide economic impact, according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

Some of the biggest road projects in Tarrant County have toll road or toll lane components -- including the proposed makeover of Grapevine-area freeways known collectively as the DFW Connector, the expansion of Northeast Loop 820 and Airport Freeway known as the North Tarrant Express and the proposed Southwest Parkway toll road from southwest to downtown Fort Worth.

The legislature directed that much of the Propostion 12 money not be spent on toll projects, Texas Department of Transportation officials said last week.

However, in Tarrant County, officials with the transportation department's Fort Worth district have designed a version of the proposed Interstate 35W/Northeast Loop 820 interchange that would cost $200 million and would not include a toll component. Therefore, it should be eligible for Proposition 12 money.

-- Gordon Dickson.

Two more toll roads in the works

Environmental studies approved by the federal government years ago for future freeway extensions of Texas 170 near Alliance Airport and Texas 360 in Arlington/Mansfield will be updated so the projects may be built as toll roads.
The Texas Department of Transportation, which owns the right-of-way and existing frontage roads for both projects, on Tuesday gave the North Texas Tollway Authority permission to conduct the environmental studies. The roads have already passed environmental muster once before, but federal law requires that the records be updated if a project is changed from a freeway to a toll road, a state official said.
The roads are among more than a dozen projects the tollway authority intends to undertake in the coming years to improve mobility in the Metroplex.
The transportation department also asked the tollway authority to provide a timeline for conducting a market valuation of both roads. State law requires the two agencies to mutually agree on a valuation — or dollar value — before a road can be built as a toll project. Why? In many cases, tolls can be used to pay for not only the road in question, but also other roads in the region. GORDON DICKSON, 817-685-3816

Charlie vents about merging, cameras & tolls

Here's an e-mail from Keller resident Charlie. Does anyone else know something about these topics? At Charlie's request, we've added a category for Texas 170 in the Alliance area.

I'd love to complain about folk's inability to merge correctly, proposed Westlake red light cameras and the prospect of building a tollway, but I have no place to post it!  It'll get me a mug more quickly as well! Thanks, Charlie (thebigpurplefrog) Keller, TX