This plan calls for two toll lanes to be built in the middle of Loop 1604. The DEIS for Loop 1604 from just a few years ago showed the cost of the section from Bandera Rd. to I-35 as $854 million.

Alternative number one on that draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) proposed building 4 totally free lanes at a total cost of $396 million for the stretch from Bandera Rd. to I-35. The toll-managed lane option costs came to $854 million in the same DEIS. The free lanes are much cheaper and move more traffic faster than toll lanes. Free lanes also carry more traffic than toll lanes. TxDOT and the RMA claim a free lane plan could not be started until 2035 unless funding can be found. Considering passage of Prop 1, ending diversions in the current budget, and the Governor's plan (declared an emergency item) to dedicate a portion of the vehicle sales tax to roads bringing the new funding available to TxDOT to over $4 billion a year, Loop 1604 can and should be expanded without tolls in the near-term, not 20 years from now. To say otherwise is deception.

The open houses last week were flawed - only the toll-managed lane plan was presented as an option. The public overwhelmingly voted for Prop 1 to prevent more toll roads across the state - we know what we voted on and that TxDOT has more funding coming. It's more affordable and more efficient to expand 1604 with non-toll lanes than toll lanes. This is a viable and non-controversial option that must be offered to the public for consideration per federal law.