Need to be Aware of TxDOT's Plans

Dear Editor,
   Chronicle readers need to be aware that TxDOT and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority's multi-billion dollar toll road plan includes over $700 million for widening existing highway lanes and building new highways over the Barton Springs Watershed. This could be the largest public investment ever in urbanizing and paving the most sensitive watershed in Texas – if our elected officials vote for it this Monday night.
   The science is clear: more pavement = more pollution. For a fraction of the $700 million proposed to pour concrete and asphalt above Barton Creek, Williamson Creek, Slaughter Creek, and Bear Creek, we could purchase land, easements, and development rights that would ensure permanent protection of Barton Springs and the Edwards Aquifer and erase the new traffic these toll road lanes are meant to serve – and profit from.
   The toll road plan is up for a vote this Monday, July 12, at the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. Our elected officials need to hear from citizens who want the Barton Springs Watershed saved, not paved. Contact your representatives who sit on the CAMPO board. You can e-mail all of them from www.stopdoubletax.com. Come to the hearing Monday at 6pm at the Thompson Conference Center at 26th and Red River. Let's act now before toll roads gobble up our tax dollars and pave the way for more urban and suburban sprawl.