Highway construction, why we don't have any money for it, and how we're screwed

At the end of November, the Texas Department of Transportation reported that it was going to cut 10 percent from its budget, blaming the federal government, increasing construction costs, and declining state revenue.

At the time, I was worn out from writing about highway projects -- aka the Trinity toll road -- and didn't note, as I should have, that we were about to get screwed. Yesterday, we did.

You can read this story in Dallas' Only Daily Newspaper and believe it or not. It almost doesn't matter, since what it says isn't the real story. The real story is that there is no money for highway construction in Texas. None, nada, zilch. This means that any promises made about highway funding around here, whether for the toll road or any other project, are not true.

I will not be impolite enough to say our elected officials knowingly lied to us during the Trinity campaign, though one can make a case for that. Lake Highlands' votes played a key role in defeating the toll road referendum. But what would those voters have done if they had known there was no money for the long-awaited and much-needed flood control repair project for Northwest Highway near White Rock Lake? Think more than a few of them wouldn't have asked: "Why are we building a toll road when we can't afford to fix Northwest Highway?" You're damn right they would have.

Better minds than mine have dissected the way Michael Morris and the North Texas Central Council of Governments does things. So I will just say this: If Morris told me today was Tuesday and that I lived in the United States of America, I'd reach for a calendar and my passport. So when he says that we can fix Northwest Highway by diverting toll revenue from Highway 121, I start laughing. Read this, and you'll see why. The tollway authority borrowed $3.75 billion to build 121, and the tolls must be used to repay that money, plus interest. They can siphon and juggle all they want, but they're just robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Also tucked into yesterday's News story is this line: "As part of the plan, TxDOT would have to agree to commit $150 million in coming years to backstop costs for the reconstruction of Interstate 635." I have no idea what it means -- backstop? -- but I'm willing to bet that we're so screwed there isn't even money to do basic work on LBJ. Which means we're going to start hearing about the need to toll LBJ. I can hardly wait for Morris, Mayor Park Cities and the rest of the gang to try and explain that.

Comments

[McNally]

Please, correct me if I’m wrong but I think “Back Talk” is misinformed. In the summer of ’07 it was between Cintra and NTTA over who would continue on with the S.H. 121 toll road extension project. After much state and local drama the bid was awarded to NTTA. As part of the bid agreement, NTTA is responsible for paying the region $3.3 Billon. It would be my understanding that this is where the funds for fixing Northwest Highway come from. Not future toll fare because that money would go straight to NTTA in order to recoup their operating & construction costs and pay off the debt they took on as part of the bid process for 121 to begin with.

[CM]

This is the price we pay for 15 years of "running government like a bidness".

[Lee]

No, this is the price we pay for twenty-five years of conservative Republican "governance," with its anti-tax, anti-government mantras. Situations like this are developing all over the country. You can follow this story at .

[Lee]

I left a link, but it didn't translate, so google "The Big Con" to follow this developing series of disasters.

[CM]

Actually Lee, my point exactly. Why have we entrusted our government to people who hate the government?

[Nathan]

Most of the 121 money will go to Denton and Collin Counties. Dallas will only get a sliver of the 121 pie, hardly enough to take care its intra-county transportation needs. TXDoT, Mr. Morris and Governor 39 percent are running our freeways into the ground so we will be ready to sell them to the highest bidder once we have become desperate enough. When designs are complete on the Trinity Parkway and the price tag is estimated we need to have a serious debate on how badly we need this road and whether we need to "rob Peter to pay Paul" i.e. toll Collin County and North Dallas drivers to pay for a road in a flood plain in Southeastern Dallas.

[Bill Kennedy]

Just great! The NW Hwy fix... a solution waiting forever again!

[Jeff Siegel]

Actually, I don't see this as a partisan political issue. Neither party has the stomach for paying for infrastructure repairs (witness Minnesota and the bridge collapse). That's why, as the late great Molly Ivins always said, it's up to use to remind them who they work for. I thought I remembered reading something about tolling local roads, and did find this: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/121407dnmetmesquitehov.108fb1f9.html
"The I-30 lanes west of downtown eventually will reach Fort Worth and will become North Texas' first tolled HOV lanes sometime next year. Those lanes will be opened to solo drivers who pay a toll."

[Lee]

To say that an issue is "not a partisan political issue" is a common dodge conservatives use to evade responsibility for the damage their policies have wrought. When conservatives (meaning primarily, but not exclusively, Republicans) control the legislative and executive levers of power and implement their anti-tax- anti-regulatory, anti-government agendas, we all pay the price, as noted above.

[gaddis]

Spot on, Lee. When conservatives are in charge, ineffective government becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.