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Dude, did you forget what city this? Labor isn't difficult to find.
I am absolutely against any and all toll roads anywhere in the San Antonio area.
Why spend money on roads that can not be utilized by everyone? Why take from the pool of available labor and resources to build such roads? Why tear up the existing infrastructure for them? It makes no sense whatsoever. Only people who can afford to blow cash on having a personal highway built for them can stand behind this honestly. Toll roads are not good for the average person (read majority).
It isn't?
SA has a 3.6 percent jobless rate.
The economy is great, despite what Barack Obama wants to tell you.
But, Spurswoman makes the great point, all toll roads do are kill the low income familys who go to work.
Who said anything about raising the gas tax?
I call BS on the taxes not being enough. There are plenty of funds out there.
Reallocate from projects that aren't needed, and make adjustments.
paying money for roads, that tax money goes to.
let's take some money from schools and put it into building roads. cut those art programs further, they're worthless.
I was reading about several alternatives/sources for funding, and that was one of them. Up to $.25/gallon if I'm not mistaken.
I'd support toll roads before I'd support that ... toll roads you can get around, but Via doesn't come anywhere near me.
What were other things other than toll roads and gas tax I hadn't seen it.
I'm not up to date on the whole toll roll thing, but won't everyone have the option of using the untolled part of the road too? Why would you need to get on the toll road just to go get milk?That looks like a total nightmare.
I live on 1604 (the access road is the only way out of my neighborhood so far) ... so as long as there's a way for me not to have to pay a toll just to go get a gallon of milk, I don't really care. Although the construction will definitely suck ass for a long, long time.
Forgive my ignorance on the subject but since I don't drive to work, I haven't paid enough attention to the whole idea.
My point was, since I live on 1604 and it's how I get around, as long as there's a way for me to get *anywhere* without having to use a toll road and doesn't cause a major inconvenience doing so, I don't really care. If access roads are the only alternative, how congested are those going to be?
I heard Wurzbach Parkway was another target for tolls. Which is how I currently get to work.
Last edited by SpursWoman; 06-30-2007 at 03:45 PM.
$2,000 to $4,000 a year on toll roads?
I'm a heavy user of Houston toll roads, and I'm not even spending $800 a year in tolls. That's with Houston toll roads being among the most expensive in America outside the Eastern Seaboard.
Maybe if you're driving into Manhattan every day you pay that much.
I got that number from a psycho-anti-toll road website.
But I thought that even if a section of the highway or parkway was tolled that there would be an untolled strip right next to it. So you'd always have the option not to be on the toll road (and not be on the access road).My point was, since I live on 1604 and it's how I get around, as long as there's a way for me to get *anywhere* without having to use a toll road I don't really care. If access roads are the only alternative, how congested are those going to be?
I heard Wurzbach Parkway was another target for tolls. Which is how currently get to work.
Is that not correct?
I'm not sure ... I was trying to figure out the configuration from those videos and I'm not sure how it'll work. Especially going through the interchanges.
If there are going to be non-tolled lanes, then besides the major crappage of living in a construction zone for the next 10 years it's not that big a deal, then.
I'm not sure either, that's why I asked.
I guess we need Buddy Holly
In the past, building these roads would be covered just by raising the gas tax. But, gas already is expensive enough that it affects people's vehicle choices and the amount of gas they use.
So, our next alternatives are tolling the roads, or taxing people based upon the miles they drive.
In my perfect world, road construction would be covered by bonds paid off by tolls, and maintenance would be paid for by the vehicles that damage the roads, which would mean that taxes on commerical trucks pay 95% of all maintenance costs.
But the Latin American-style corporate s that replaced the free-market conservatives in the Republican Party aren't going to tax businesses like that -- they will make private citizens subsidize the businesses.
The interchange at 151 is questionable. The way that video shows it, the frontage road veers onto 151. Unless that is a free interchange, drivers are forced to pay a toll to continue north on 1604.
Having major highway interchanges with flyover ramps free and maintained by the state is not unusual, so perhaps that is the plan.
I think another alternative for funding that I read was an increase in the yearly vehicle registration renewals. Which currently are around $50-100 or whatever, but to raise them another $100 or so. Aren't these registrations considerably higher in other states, like California?
Car registration in California is based on how much your car is worth. Back in the day I paid $700 one year to register a car. My friend paid $1500 annually to register her Mercedes.
I think that's how it works here, but at a much lower rate. My $25K truck is only $65. And it's expired, as of tomorrow.
I think another alternative for funding that I read was an increase in the yearly vehicle registration renewals. Which currently are around $50-100 or whatever, but to raise them another $100 or so. Aren't these registrations considerably higher in other states, like California?
Yeah that was one of the big things that got Grey out Davis booted out of office from california (What a sweet day that was)
He doubled, or tripled, I can't remember, the already rediculous car registration fee.
I'd be for paying a little more in registration fees, like 50 bucks.
So tax the truckers, and raise the cost of living even more.In my perfect world, road construction would be covered by bonds paid off by tolls, and maintenance would be paid for by the vehicles that damage the roads, which would mean that taxes on commerical trucks pay 95% of all maintenance costs.
Makes sense.
It's all part of the cost of living anyway, whether in tolls, gas taxes, mileage taxes, or shipping costs for businesses.
Pay me now or pay me later. You don't get it for free.
Cool, put more truckers out of work.
Nice idea
Cool, put more truckers out of work.
Nice idea
They wouldn't go out of business, they'd just drastically raise the cost of their services and then everything you buy would increase in price. That would be sweet.
All this discussion about toll roads cracks me up though because at the end of the day, they are going to be built in San Antonio, and there isn't anything you can do about it.
I for one will cheer when they are complete.
By the way, the middle lanes are tolled, the outside lanes aren't and the frontage roads are improved.
It's gone down a lot. Still higher than here, but not nearly as bad as it was. I just renewed my dad's registraton for his Mercedes (work) and it was $300 something.
That doesn't sound too bad, then. But I'm certainly not looking forward to the construction.
*shrugs*
Businesses use too many highly-inefficient trucks out of sheer convenience, when there are lower-cost alternative modes of transportation that require just a modi of competent planning to use.Cool, put more truckers out of work.
Nice idea
Does it put some truckers out of work? Yes, just like the car put a lot of buggy manufactuters out of work.
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