Why the DFW Texas Metropolitan Mobility Plan (TMMP) and Tolling TX 121 Is A Bad Idea: The TMMP supports retro-tolling.
Retro-tolling is taking an existing road paid for with tax dollars and adding tolls to it.
The DFW TMMP includes the retro-tolling of TX 121 in Denton County.
Many officials also want to toll the Collin County portion.
TX 121 is a road that DFW drivers have used for decades for free.
It is currently being expanded to a 6 lane controlled access freeway.
Construction has started and all of the funding for the Denton County portion and part of the Collin County portion is in place.
In January of this year the NCTCOG RTC updated their Mobility 2025 document and left this is a free road.
Now they want to toll it (even though it is being built with tax dollars) and use the funds on other projects in Denton County.
TX 121 is the only road in DFW that they currently plan to do this to.
However, there is noting stopping them from tolling other free roads.
In fact, Austin plans to toll nearly every existing freeway in their area.
The TMMP suggests that tolling be used to reduce the number of cars on the road.
"Implement a retro-tolling system allowing for the tolling of existing congested interstates and freeways to improve system mobility," says the DFW TMMP.
It also advocates building toll interchanges so that you have to pay to get on existing "free"ways.
This doesn't sound like a "mobility" plan to us.
This sounds like an "elitist" plan to us.
The TMMP calls for building roads with tax money and then tolling them to build other projects.
The expansion of TX 121 that is under construction now, is funded using $200,000,000 of your tax dollars.
The NCTCOG RTC now wants to toll the road and use the toll revenue on other projects, like I-35E expansion.
The main reason used by pro-tolling groups around the world is to have the users of the road pay for it so it can be built sooner.
TX 121 will not be built any sooner under this plan.
The users will be paying tolls to fund other roads.
In fact, they will be paying for it three times - once with past tax money, again with a toll, and again with gas tax dollars as they drive over it.
Stop121Tolls is not aware of anywhere in the world where a toll project from day one was used to fund other roads.
There are better ways to fund other needed projects.
Sure I-35E and US 75 need to be expanded, but there are better ways to do this.
The DFW TMMP contains $165,202,081 of your tax dollars to build a TX 161 toll road from TX 183 to I-20.
It also includes $300,000,000 of your tax dollars to extend President George Bush Turnpike (toll road) from TX 78 to I-30.
It also includes $440,000,000 of your tax dollars to build the Trinity Parkway toll road.
That is $905,202,081 of your tax dollars being used to build toll roads that could be used for I-35E and US 75 expansion so TX 121 would not have to be tolled.
If these other toll road projects are needed (which Stop121Tolls believes they probably are) then why can't TXDOT and NTTA sell toll bonds to fund them? If these are needed roads, then the projected usage and toll revenue estimates should support toll bond sales.
The total cost for I-35E expansion is $300,000,000 and the cost the unfunded part of TX 121 in Collin County is $200,000,000.
That still leaves $405,202,081 to expand US 75 in Collin County - which is not even in the plan.
In addition the use of new express/toll lanes on existing roads could bring even more money.
The RTC also admits in the TMMP that they have not researched all funding methods (like Odgen bonds).
But what about the "near neighbor" projects? The DFW TMMP calls for the use of some toll revenue from tolling TX 121 in Denton County to fund "near neighbor" projects.
Stop121Tolls is concerned about this for two reasons.
The first is that under Texas law, the toll revenue can be used for any project in that county.
Given the fact the NCTCOG RTC lied to us in January and said TX 121 would stay free (while they now admit that they where in discussions about tolling it), we do not think that we can trust them.
In fact, according to the director of transportation for NCTCOG, they will not guarantee anything.
Your toll dollars could very well be funding projects in areas many miles away from TX 121.
Second, we do not believe it is a good return on your investment.
In exchange for few million dollars of possible - but not guaranteed - projects in your area, you are being asked to pay tolls for ever.
The phrase "selling your soul to the devil" comes to mind here.
But the service roads are free, right? That is what they say, but consider this - a 2003 TXDOT internal training class called "Toll Road Finance 101" talks about maximizing profits by not building free roads, and by either not building service roads, or by making the service roads discontinuous.
Some of the finished sections of TX 121, the Dallas North Tollway, and the President George Bush Turnpike have sections with no service roads where you have to get on the toll road.
Stop121Tolls.
Com also predicts that the speed limit will drop, and the number of traffic lights will be increased, once they toll TX 121.
This is just another Robin Hood plan.
Texas is currently facing a crisis in education funding because of the failed "Robin Hood" method of school finance.
The tolling of TX 121 is just another Robin Hood plan.
It will cost each household of people in The Colony an estimated $2,000 a year and also will be very costly to commuters in Tarrant and Collin counties who use TX 121 to travel to and from work and DFW airport.
Yet the funds raised by tolls will be going to fund roads elsewhere.
This sounds like Robin Hood at it again.
Think about the city of Plano.
When TX 121 is finished, it will be the 3rd toll road in Plano.
Why will Plano have 75% of its "free"way access not be tolled? What about The Colony where 100% of its highway access will be tolled? Why do southwest Collin, southeast Denton, and North Dallas have to bear this load? This plan will turn the city of The Colony into an island and reduce property values.
TX 121 is the main, and only efficient, access method to that city.
When residents moved in, they never where told they will have to pay a "gate keeper" just to get in.
With no free efficient access to the city, property values will decline.
This will have a negative impact on business.
With each new toll road in our area, the cost of driving and living here goes up.
This means that companies "cost of business" will go up because they will have to pay employees more.
Countless studies have shown that toll roads hurt retail businesses because people do not want to get off and on (and pay another toll) to do business.
Many toll road users just drive to the end.
Another thing to consider is that when that CEO of a Fortune 500 company comes into DFW Airport and rents a car to drive north to look at possible places to relocate his/her company, he/she will have to use the service road because the rental car doesn't have a toll tag.
Is that the first impression we want to leave with businesses looking to relocate here?