Which Projects Support and Which Harm the Future

Dear Editor:
   Last week you called on your readers to "really ponder" toll roads ["Page Two," Jan. 21]. Two sentences later you wrote, "I’m really not even current with the issues or the facts." The remainder of your column demonstrated the accuracy of this statement.
   However, buried within, you wrote something that is extremely important: "Carefully planning and building roads can drive growth in the most ecologically desirable directions."
   Perhaps you are aware that over the last 25 years and now in the proposed toll road and CAMPO 2030 plan our elected officials have completely ignored this point. Having ignored this fundamental of planning, we have polluted the Edwards Aquifer, destroyed scenic Hill Country vistas and endangered species habitat and caused (not reduced) traffic congestion on MoPac and other roads.
   We’ve spent billions extending and expanding roads into the Hill Country. Now our planners want to spend billions more, mostly on projects for which tolls will only pay a small fraction of the cost. The draft long-range road plan – which will be up for public comment in February and March – calls for spending more than $1.5 billion (with a "b") on road projects in the Barton Springs watershed alone.
   The Envision Central Texas survey shows overwhelming consensus from rural, suburban, and urban residents for the kind of "careful planning" you seem to want. Whether, when, and how tolls are involved are important questions, but disagreements on tolling should not confuse the question of which projects support and which harm the future we want for our region.