NCTCOG Acknowledges Public Criticism, Drops Private Toll Road Idea

By Amy Silverstein Tue., Oct. 21 2014 at 10:04 AM

Mark Haslett

From the beginning, the private toll road that would run parallel to Interstate 30 seemed like a sure thing, no matter how many people who lived in the way who said they didn't want the road.

"I think that maybe the ship has already sailed, and all these meetings out there, the public comments, it's putting a check in the box," Lavon's Mayor Chuck Teske says in last Thursday's cover story. "I really don't think they care what the residents out here think."

Late last Friday, however, local transportation planners suddenly seemed to care what the residents thought. The North Central Texas Council of Governments announced in a press release Friday afternoon that it is no longer recommending the toll road proposal be included in the Mobility 2035 plan, a key document that outlines where federal transportation money is going to go.

NCTCOG's transportation director Michael Morris had previously appeared pretty enthusiastic about the tollway. But he says that the broad public criticism is what made his agency ultimately back away from the idea. "We thought we had consensus that we should proceed in this direction, and obviously we were wrong," he says. "Obviously we've had huge amounts of criticism and concern about the project since then."

As I documented in last week's feature, a little-known corporation called the Texas Turnpike Corp. has for the last two years been trying to get support to build the first private toll road in Texas. In fact, the company in 2012 had claimed that the project was more or less a done deal: "Significant pre-development work has been completed to date and the Project is now ready to move into the development phase," the corporation said at the time.

The NCTCOG promised last year to slow the company down and conduct an independent feasibility study into whether the project was necessary.

Yet even before the study was underway, the Texas Turnpike Corp. was boasting NCTCOG's support. In a 2012 report on the project, the Texas Turnpike Corp. wrote that "NCTCOG's model showed that the Project was a needed road as both an untolled and tolled facility." (Morris says he warned the Texas Turnpike Corp. from the beginning that they'd need to win over the public to get the project approved).

It's the Regional Transportation Council that gets the final vote. But without NCTCOG's powerful support, winning RTC's approval is unlikely. Morris says citizens expressed concerns to him not only about the tollway but the fact that the Texas Turnpike Corp. is still able to use eminent domain under a loophole in the state law. "We're flagging that to the Legislature to see if they want to do anything about that or not," Morris says.

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Tipster1908

Lesson to be learned? Scare the shit out of enough politicians at the local and state level and you can avoid getting steamrolled by the likes of Michael Morris. He only seems all-powerful because Dallas city and county politics have been bought and paid for since forever, and Fort Worth is a highly concentrated and coordinated corruption/patronage system (even more so than the DCC in Dallas).

Meanwhile, you've got these small towns and rural counties where a few hundred passionate voters matter. They matter both in terms of their votes and the people they can recruit to their side. If a local politician out there was found to support this road, you could run almost ANYONE against him in the next election and win on that issue alone. Morris didn't back down because he saw the error of his ways. He was politely informed by some scared politicians that he needed to stop fucking up their political careers or they'd make sure his ended.

That's why the trinity toll road needs to be THE issue in the upcoming council elections. A vote for someone who either supports it or is indifferent is a vote to continue to send money down the abyss (I still think the thing never gets built, but the money we waste in the meantime is real).

ShakespearGotItRight

CSJ 0918-00-251 & CSJ 0901-22-109 “New Location Toll Road – Blacklands Corridor”

It is already in TxDOT's approved 2015 Unified Transportation Plan. Pretty neat trick, that. If you didn't know it was there, then good luck finding it. That's over 1,300 pages to sift through!

Amy, you should wear out some shoe leather on this one. How did it get in the UTP before being voted on at the regional level?

oak_clifftownie

All of the efforts the private builder has made so far after a few nonbinding meetings with the local folks they have folded their tents and are going away ?

I have a feeling the next time it comes up it will be beyond Local control as the land is acquired and it will be soon be under construction ..

TheCredibleHulk topcommenter

Yes, why don't we just ". . .flag that to the Legislature to see if they want to do anything about that or not."

I'll bet John Crew is a pretty heavy hitter when it comes to campaign donations. It would be interesting to find out who he supports politically and, in turn, what they support should this ever happen to come before the Lege.

More good work, Amy.

ShakespearGotItRight

"It's the Regional Transportation Council that gets the final vote. But without NCTCOG's powerful support, winning RTC's approval is unlikely. Morris says citizens expressed concerns to him not only about the tollway but the fact that the Texas Turnpike Corp. is still able to use eminent domain under a loophole in the state law. "We're flagging that to the Legislature to see if they want to do anything about that or not," Morris says."

That's ok. Saint Michael already did an end run around the RTC and those pesky aginers.

sammerten

"We thought we had consensus that we should proceed in this direction, and obviously we were wrong," he says. "Obviously we've had huge amounts of criticism and concern about the project since then."

This statement also applies to the Trinity toll road. So why won't the NCTCOG distance from that project as well?

doublecheese

@ShakespearGotItRight

About the UTP:

Specifically, the UTP is a listing of projects and programs that are planned to be constructed and/or developed within the first ten years of the 24-year SLRTP. Project development includes activities such as preliminary engineering work, environmental analysis, right of way acquisition and design. Despite its importance to TxDOT as a planning and programming tool, the UTP is neither a budget nor a guarantee that projects will or can be built. However, it is a critical tool in guiding transportation project development within the long-term planning context. In addition, it serves as a communication tool for stakeholders and the public in understanding the project development commitments TxDOT is making.

Looks to me like since this project was being discussed, they went ahead and put it into this document to have a more comprehensive picture of confirmed projects and potential projects. Not that there isn't shady shit going on at all levels, but this in and of itself looks pretty benign.

TheCredibleHulk topcommenter

@ShakespearGotItRight

A Tollroad is harder to kill than a vampire, for sure.

You can bet that the interested parties are still quite interested and now that they've been rebuffed at the front-door will be looking for alternate points of entry that are not as obvious.

Now is not the time for complacency.

ShakespearGotItRight

It is already beyond local control. Saint Michael's made sure of that.

squeakywheel88

@TheCredibleHulk Friends of Barry Smitherman $15,607. Rick Perry $2,000. Greg Abbott $2,000, Kenneth Paxton $15,790. Dan patrick $12,500. Ryan Sitton $2,000. John Corona $1,000. Just trying to make sure he has his bases covered.