Groups hit Texas Capitol to oppose spending stimulus money on toll roads

By DAVE MONTGOMERY - Fort Worth Star Telegram - March 4, 2009
AUSTIN — Beverly Branham’s message to lawmakers was neatly summarized in the four-word placard on her bright red hat: "No Stimulus Toll Road."

The Fort Worth grandmother and scores of like-minded Texans fanned out across the state Capitol on Tuesday, demanding that legislators spend not one penny of federal stimulus money to finance toll roads.

"It’s double taxes," Branham said, "and we’re already tax slaves."

The daylong lobbying mission was organized by several transportation watchdog groups, which contend that using federal stimulus money for toll roads essentially represents a double whammy on their pocketbooks: First, through the federal taxes that finance the huge stimulus package, and second, through the fees they will have to pay at the tollbooth.

"Taxpayers should not have to pay for the roads through repayment of stimulus funds and pay tolls to use the highways," according to a statement from the Arlington-based DFW Regional Concerned Citizens.

Branham and Nina Spears, also of Fort Worth, drove to Austin together. They said they are also concerned about foreign companies’ involvement in toll-road projects and the development of a "NAFTA highway" to funnel international shipping through Texas. The groups outlined their priorities in a midmorning news conference and through visits with lawmakers.

"If anybody grins at us, we walk up and talk to them," Branham said.

The groups also demanded that lawmakers clamp down on the Texas Department of Transportation and scrap any vestiges of Gov. Rick Perry’s Trans-Texas Corridor, which originally called for a $184 billion network of toll roads.

"TxDOT needs to pull back its horns a little bit," said Jimmy Simmons of Waxahachie, a retired engineer at the General Motors plant in Arlington.

Asked whether he thought lawmakers should ban the use of stimulus money for toll roads, Branham responded: "I wish we wouldn’t take any."

Many of the protesters oppose toll roads in general.

"Generation after generation is going to be paying for these roads," said Bruce Burton of Austin. A woman nearby clutched a sign reading, "Texans Against Tolls."
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Toll foes, environmentalists urge brakes on stimulus spending for highways

By Peggy Fikac - Houston Chronicle - March 03, 2009

Toll road opponents and environmentalists today said they want to put the brakes on the Texas Transportation Commission's plans to allocate $1.2 billion in stimulus funds for highway projects Thursday.

They're particularly conccerned about toll projects, which make up $700 million of the total.

"How many times do we have to pay to drive the same stretch of road?" asked Terri Hall, founder of Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom.

One focus of criticism was the Grand Parkway project in Harris County, which one protester's sign dubbed the "Grand Porkway."

Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Chris Lippincott gave the quickest possible "no" when asked whether it's possible that the commission would put off Thursday's vote. The commission had already delayed action from last week after some legislative concern surfaced about the speed with which the agency is acting on stimulus funds.

Lippincott emphasized, as he has before, that the list was developed in coordination with local transportation officials. He said none of the projects is new, and that the commission had been clear that it wanted to spend stimulus money on projects that pooled resources, including revenue from tolls.

He also said that paying a toll is no different from paying to get into a high school football game at a stadium built with tax money.

While the protesters were at the Texas Capitol, Lippincott said, President Obama was making the case at the U.S. Department of Transportation that stimulus money should be spent "immediately and responsibly to keep our economy and our people moving."

The commission last week voted to approve $505 million in maintenance projects for roads and bridges, leaving $1.2 billion in stimulus funds under its purview to be allocated Thursday.
Read more in the Houston Chronicle