(I-635 from US-75 to I-30)

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

City of Garland Fire Administration Building

1500 Hwy 66

Training Room C-419

Garland, TX 75040

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

City of Garland Police Administration Building

1891 Forest Lane

Ashlock Room

Garland, TX 75042

TURF revealed its long-awaited 2015 Report Card from the 84th Legislative Session today.

Many voters want to know how their elected leaders did in delivering on their promises to restrain toll roads.

With campaign season in full swing in many areas of the state, it's vital for voters to know how their representatives voted while in office so they can hold them accountable. Now's the time to compare notes to what was promised and what was actually delivered.

Spread the word about TURF's Report Card on social media!

"I have made funding for non-toll highways a priority since I was elected to the Senate, and today's announcement that toll roads will no longer be part of the expansion of U.S. 281 is a reflection of that success. With the passage of Prop 7 in November, we will have increased funding for Texas roads by over $5 billion a year since I arrived in Austin," Senator Campbell stated.

"San Antonio drivers deserve the best roads and demand that their tax dollars go to build toll free roads," Senator Campbell continued. "That's exactly what we've accomplished by creating new, non-toll funding mechanisms for our highways. It's important that voters go to the polls in November and vote for Prop 7."

The new plans to expand U.S. 281 were approved by members of the MPO on Monday, eliminating four previously planned toll lanes and converting them to free expressway lanes from Stone Oak to the county line. In addition, two new lanes will be designated as HOV/Bus Lanes from Stone Oak to the county line and a lane previously designated for tolls from Stone Oak to Loop 1604 will be designated as an HOV/Bus Lane.

"I'm disappointed that all vehicles will not have access to the proposed HOV lanes, but there is far more to celebrate than to criticize with the new plans. I applaud the MPO and TxDOT for working together to eliminate tolls from this project, and I am grateful for members of the community who have been vocal about improving U.S. 281 without tolls for years. We finally got it done."

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At a press conference today at the Bexar County Courthouse hosted by the San Antonio Mobility Coalition, County Judge Nelson Wolff, VIA chair Hope Andrade, Rep. Joe Straus, and others celebrated a meager expansion in capacity and the removal of tolls from US 281 on the north side.

Candidate for Rep. Straus' seat in the Texas House District 121, Jeff Judson, said this plan and announcement should be viewed with skepticism for several reasons:

1. Congestion was identified as a problem along this corridor 20 years ago, and the problem has worsened severely in the ensuing two decades. Adding only two-through lanes in each direction is an inadequate amount of new highway lane capacity, especially since the right-of-way is available to build three lanes in each direction, in addition to the frontage roads. Any rational person knows that two freeway lanes will be inadequate on the day they are opened.

2. Adding a dedicated bus lane that only extends 3 miles from the park-and-ride facility is senseless. Express bus service should be offered in the same lanes used by other vehicles with adequate lane capacity to ensure free-flowing traffic for ALL commuters, not just transit riders. Dedicating road capacity to transit in this corridor is acceding to left-wing urban planners who believe falsely that increasing congestion forces people onto transit, and that transit should be given special preferences over automobile drivers.

"Leave off the HOV lane that goes from nowhere to nothing, and give that lane to the people stuck in traffic," said Judson, Senior Fellow with the Heartland Institute and a candidate for the Texas House.

3. Scrap the $50 million ramp from the park and ride to the bus lane. Fifty million dollars is half the money needed for an interchange between major freeways which will carry far more people. We don't have the money to waste on something that will make now measurable difference in traffic congestion.

4. Scrap the sidewalks and bike lanes that no one will use. Gasoline tax dollars are too scarce to waste on sidewalks and bike lanes that have no place along a busy freeway and present a grave danger to any pedestrian or cyclist who uses them.

5. Hope Andrade of VIA, Nelson Wolff from the County, Bruce Bugg with TxDOT, and Joe Straus should return the $92 million of road funds that were stolen for the streetcar. These funds could be used immediately to begin designing and constructing this freeway rather than waiting for the ballot proposition to pass and to generate funds in another two years.

State legislation clearly directed the County share of Advanced Transportation District funds to be used as a match to build roads, yet it was laundered with the help of TxDOT to be used on the now defunct streetcar. If matched on a typical 80/20 basis, the $92 million would generate an additional $368 million in state and federal matching funds, enough to build this entire corridor and use the proposition funds to add capacity and avoid tolls elsewhere.

6. It is nice to see Joe Straus finally show up to weigh in on the toll road discussion. His voice has been visibly absent over the past decade on the topic and his recent interest seems curiously coincidental with the arrival of a formidable political opponent.

"We must have a rational and sustainable transportation infrastructure plan for our state that focuses on reducing congestion. We have not had the necessary leadership in Austin to accomplish this goal," said Judson. "It is time to have fresh ideas that benefit the voters here in our district."

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