Toll road opponents in Circle C might want to pick themselves up, brush themselves off, and get back in the game, since the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority‘s toll road plan – recalls and audits and pickets aside – continues to roll toward construction, and the agency has spent the last couple of weeks shopping its proposed toll policy to community groups.
A toll policy, as bland as it might sound, will be an important statement of the guiding principles that eventually will drive Central Texas motorists crazy – how long the future toll road should remain free, whether discounts should apply for “frequent riders,” what the penalty would be for those who fail to pay. In the midst of the cogitating, however, one piece of advice offered by state Rep. Dawnna Dukes has risen to the top: “Those who pay, play.” In response, the toll policy has been shopped most vigorously to those who have expressed a desire to use the toll roads. CTRMA Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein can point to 10 community meetings so far on the policy, none yet in southwest Travis Co. “We are not going to ignore Circle C, but we’re not interested in going out to people who are never going to use the toll road,” he said. The CTRMA board is expected to approve the draft policy next Wednesday. A public comment period will begin in November, with an open house on Nov. 10, and the board is expected to approve a final policy in December.
Beyond the confines of Central Texas, a broader statewide coalition is forming to oppose Gov. Rick Perry’s plans for the Trans-Texas Corridor, created by the same legislation that gave birth to the CTRMA. David Stall, who formed CorridorWatch.org, is networking the six nontoll groups in the state along with property rights groups and environmental organizations. The new group, as yet unnamed, will meet in Austin in November.
This article appears in October 22 • 2004.