Sen. Watson: Hoping for a kinder, gentler TXDoT?

Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, who doesn’t normally weigh in on appointments, just called the Newsdesk to talk about Gov. Rick Perry‘s announcement earlier today about putting his former chief of staff Deirdre Delisi and North Texas toll road policy maker William Meadows on the Texas Transportation Commission.

“I knew they were coming, and my hope is that what we see with these two appointments is a change in direction,” said Watson. He hopes this could indicate a shift from the “us versus them mentality at TXDoT,” and place more emphasis on local control over decisions about road infrastructure.

With the failure of the lege to pass a meaningful state-wide toll road moratorium last session (mainly because many Dallas-area and North Texas planning stakeholders fought so bitterly against it), if Watson’s right this could mean a partial end to the ‘one size fits all’ approach to road planning in Texas.

This article appears in April 25 • 2008.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.