Defending Our Property Rights & Freedom to Travel

LAST chance to submit comments on 281 toll road!    

Deadline is Monday, July 6 by midnight

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Public comment on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the US 281 toll project in Bexar County is due Monday, July 6 by midnight. We've reviewed the FEIS, identified its flaws and faulty assumptions, and will be submitting official comments.

You can submit the short and sweet version below.

ACTION ITEM
Comments are due Monday, July 6 by midnight, on this web site.

It's essential WE FLOOD THEM WITH THIS MESSAGE:
'I do not want a tolled alternative. Go back to the complete NON-TOLL EXPRESSWAY alternative studied earlier using the new money the legislature has made available to fund it fully without tolls.'

Be sure to include your full name and address and ask for confirmation of receipt of comments.  
Campbell, Larson ask MPO to make 281 toll-free

All eyes on MPO to decide ultimate fate of 281

Senator Donna Campbell and Rep. Lyle Larson call on the MPO to restore non-toll funding for US 281.
Not to be outdone by Judge Nelson Wolff's request to do both US 281 and I-10 WITHOUT TOLLS, Senator Donna Campbell and State Rep. Lyle Larson, who represent the US 281 corridor, asked the Alamo Area MPO (AAMPO) to revert US 281 back to a non-toll project.

Campbell and Larson reference the history of US 281 and the fact that it was once completely paid for with gas taxes (see here for proof) and set to go to construction as a typical freeway expansion and was switched to a toll road under Rick Perry's toll road push. Of all the projects in the Alamo area that enraged the public, it was US 281 because of the broken promise by TxDOT and officials who let it happen.

So Campbell and Larson make the argument that US 281 should be first in line to receive some of the new funding made available by the legislature and voters in order to return this project to a FREEway expansion, instead of the current freeway-to-tollway conversion plan.

READ TxDOT's response to Judge Wolff

As you can see, all roads lead back to the local MPO!

DFW -
Take Transportation Survey    

Officials seeking feedback on traffic woes, solutions

Male hand activating an Online survey button on virtual screen. The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) is seeking public feedback on transportation in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. It asks about traffic woes and possible solutions in a online survey.

It's only 6 questions. We can't be a part of the solution if we don't engage and give feedback when they ask for it.

Austin - 
TxDOT approves $200 million in gas taxes to expand tolls on 183      

a car standing on euro bills. costs for the purchase of automobiles, gasoline, insurance and other car costs In yet another double tax scheme, the Texas Transportation Commission just approved another $200 million dollar tax subsidy for expansion of US 183 in Austin. So between I-35 and US 183, the vast majority of the money being used to make these FREEways into tollways is YOUR gas taxes.

It's one of the only remaining unrestricted funds available to TxDOT to keep fleecing the taxpayers with DOUBLE TAXATION. If a road is built with tax money, it should be a freeway not a tollway. But that good government, truth in taxation principle has been lost on TxDOT since Rick Perry. Despite Governor Greg Abbott campaigning against toll roads, his new Chairman Tryon Lewis and Commissioner Bruce Bugg continue to vote to use our gas taxes to build toll roads. Especially in Austin!

TxDOT seeking comment on 10-year plan       

The 10-year UTP is full of toll projects

typical toll booth located on i-75 in southwest florida The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will host a public meeting via WebEx on Thursday, July 16, 2015 at 4:00 PM to receive comments on the development of the 2016 Unified Transportation Program (UTP).

The UTP is a comprehensive ten-year plan for the development and construction of transportation projects throughout Texas. It's also chalk-full of toll projects.

ACTION ITEM
Tell TxDOT:
"I want ALL of the money available to the department, especially the new money made available by the legislature and the voters, to be used exclusively to revert toll projects back to non-toll projects." 

It's a wrap!  

Read Terri's three-part series on the 84th legislative session 

Legislature leaves without stopping tolls

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Abbott brought new atmosphere to Texas Legislature

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Accountability, reform, transparency: Legislature delivers mixed bag
SAVE THE DATE
Our next gathering
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Be sure to mark your calendars for our next gathering. Due to many with travel plans throughout the summer, we won't be meeting. But plan to jump back in with both feet in September!

Next TURF Meeting 
Thursday, September 24 
Chester's Hamburgers
16609 San Pedro
San Antonio, TX
6:00 PM (for those ordering dinner)
6:30 PM (meeting begins) 
 

BE IN THE KNOW... 

GET THE SCOOP FIRST! SUBSCRIBE TO TERRI'S COLUMNS 

TxDOT tracks drivers to mine data without consent

READ MORE.
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Alamo City to impose bus-toll lanes on ALL highways         
 
HEADLINES...
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TxDOT plans to add toll lanes on I-35 through three counties using GAS TAX 
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Toll agency waste exposed in Dallas Morning News investigation
RMAs lack accountability, oversight
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Fate of toll roads in limbo post-session  
  Read More...
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DONATE TODAY
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With the 84th legislative session now over, our work continues educating the public about what their lawmakers did and how to hold them accountable at the ballot box. We'll also continue to help local communities fight toll roads in their backyard using the legal and political tools we've refined over a decade of advocacy. We'll soon be providing a Legislative Report Card and Voter Guide, all of which takes resources. 

We'd appreciate a donation to support the work TURF does on behalf of taxpayers.

With HUNDREDS of toll projects planned in Texas, EVERYONE will be effected by these NEW taxes!

Or send in a check to:
Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (or TURF)
PO Box 29254
San Antonio, TX 78229-0254
"I...place economy among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared... Taxation follows that, and in its turn wretchedness and oppression."
--Thomas Jefferson,
Letter to William Plumer, 1816
© 2015 Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom