 Lawmakers fume over freeway to tollway conversion of 281 - The Texas Department of Transportation, or TxDOT, is among 12 state agencies up for sunset review in 2009. If the agency is found to no longer fulfill a useful public purpose, it will "sunset." A group of Legislators called the Sunset Commission is tasked with reviewing the agencies and finding waste, fraud, or bad management practices. This video clip shows a portion of TURF's Founder, Terri Hall, testifying before the Commission about the conversion of the 281 freeway into a tollway. Representative Linda Harper-Brown makes it clear that TxDOT/ARMA is violating the legislative intent of the law, HB 2702, that prohibits the conversion of freeways into tollways. In June 2008, the Sunset Committee issued a scathing report of TxDOT stating that many expressed TxDOT is "out of control," advancing its own agenda against the objections of both the Legislature and the public. It also said until trust is restored, TxDOT cannot effectively meet the state's transportation needs. The report recommended placing TxDOT under a legislative conservatorship, abolishing the Transportation Commission and replacing it with a single commissioner, and returning the control over transportation policy to the Legislature. | Local board votes to toll despite overwhelming public opposition - On December 3, 2007, the San Antonio Metropolitan Planning Organization (or SAMPO), cast one of the most controversial votes in its history. Before a capacity crowd (over 200 people in the middle of a workday, with 30+ citizens denied access, forced to wait outside and who never had their voices heard), the Board voted to approve undisclosed financial terms from a 281 "market valuation study" that even Legislators and MPO Board members could not see or review prior to the vote. SAMPO also voted to give $325 million in non-toll public subsidies, called Texas Mobility Funds, to the 281 and Loop 1604 toll projects, funds that could be used to keep them FREEways.This is proof positive that toll roads aren't about lacking non-toll funds, it's about raiding your wallet! A handful of members of the toll lobby are also seen in this video, including actual bidders who will directly profit from the 281 toll project. Their financial interest in the project was never disclosed prior to their comments. They were given preferential treatment during the meeting and allowed to testify before ordinary taxpayers, who had taken time off work to testify. Leading up to this vote, Chairwoman Sheila McNeil and other MPO Board members, met behind closed doors with toll interests such as Valero giving them a private briefing of the financial terms with information the public was not privy to. McNeil also revealed her bias in this video where she told residents in her east side district who objected to the 281 toll project that "those people over by 281 can afford the toll roads. The average income out there is over $300,000 a year." She then said if they try to toll I-35 in her district, that then "we can talk." |
