TheWriter
11-10-2005, 05:54 PM
From: WOAI.com
Happy Toll Year
It's official, construction will begin January first on Bexar County's first ever toll road. It will be a stretch of Highway 281 between Loop 1604 and Stone Oak Parkway on the far north side.
The plan is for the two mile stretch to be the first link in a network of toll roads which will include Loop 1604 from Highway 151 all the way to Interstate 35, U.S. 281 from Loop 1604 to the Comal County Line, and, thanks to new action by the Bexar County Regional Mobility Authority, new construction on Bandera Road between Loops 410 and 1604, Interstate 35 between Selma and downtown, and the planned Wurzbach Parkway interchange to US 281.
"We know the traffic times on 35 from the county line to downtown are very long and that area is in significant need of help," RMA Chairman Bill Thornton told 1200 WOAI news.
He said planning the road projects as toll roads will mean they will be able to be construction significantly quicker than the 20 to 30 years which would have been necessary had the area waited for Tex-DOT funding.
Under an agreement with Tex-DOT, the planning and engineering of the roads will be supervised by the RMA.
The decision comes as anti toll groups including the Texas Toll Party claim opposition is growing to tolls. Toll party member Dave Ramos says a rejection of longer terms for RMA members in Tuesday's voting demonstrates the depth of public opposition to toll roads.
The issue of whether tolls will be charged has been decided by the financing of the RMA. The board on Wednesday agreed to accept a $1 million loan from Tex-DOT to pay salaries, expenses, and to provide working capital. The mechanism for repaying the loan calls for it eventually to be repaid with toll revenues.
So how much will the tolls be? Thornton said that hasn't been decided yet. He says either the RMA itself or the private company which will build the roads, with RMA input, will make that final decision.
"The numbers that I've heard discussed have been between 12 and 14 cents a mile," he said.
San Antonio commuters could start paying tolls by 2009. Officials stress that toll lanes will only be built in areas where free lanes are already available. Opponents say those free lanes will be so congested that motorists will be forced onto the toll lanes.
Happy Toll Year
It's official, construction will begin January first on Bexar County's first ever toll road. It will be a stretch of Highway 281 between Loop 1604 and Stone Oak Parkway on the far north side.
The plan is for the two mile stretch to be the first link in a network of toll roads which will include Loop 1604 from Highway 151 all the way to Interstate 35, U.S. 281 from Loop 1604 to the Comal County Line, and, thanks to new action by the Bexar County Regional Mobility Authority, new construction on Bandera Road between Loops 410 and 1604, Interstate 35 between Selma and downtown, and the planned Wurzbach Parkway interchange to US 281.
"We know the traffic times on 35 from the county line to downtown are very long and that area is in significant need of help," RMA Chairman Bill Thornton told 1200 WOAI news.
He said planning the road projects as toll roads will mean they will be able to be construction significantly quicker than the 20 to 30 years which would have been necessary had the area waited for Tex-DOT funding.
Under an agreement with Tex-DOT, the planning and engineering of the roads will be supervised by the RMA.
The decision comes as anti toll groups including the Texas Toll Party claim opposition is growing to tolls. Toll party member Dave Ramos says a rejection of longer terms for RMA members in Tuesday's voting demonstrates the depth of public opposition to toll roads.
The issue of whether tolls will be charged has been decided by the financing of the RMA. The board on Wednesday agreed to accept a $1 million loan from Tex-DOT to pay salaries, expenses, and to provide working capital. The mechanism for repaying the loan calls for it eventually to be repaid with toll revenues.
So how much will the tolls be? Thornton said that hasn't been decided yet. He says either the RMA itself or the private company which will build the roads, with RMA input, will make that final decision.
"The numbers that I've heard discussed have been between 12 and 14 cents a mile," he said.
San Antonio commuters could start paying tolls by 2009. Officials stress that toll lanes will only be built in areas where free lanes are already available. Opponents say those free lanes will be so congested that motorists will be forced onto the toll lanes.