A portion of Austin's MOPAC (loop 1) is now the first freeway to ever be tolled in the history of our country. 'Freeway Tolls' permanently take the option of a free expressway away from drivers, while traditional tollways allow drivers to choose between the freeway or the tollway.
No city in the country has shifted it's public highways to tollways. Freeways across Texas will become toll roads. 121 in Dallas, 281 in San Antonio, 71 and 183 in Austin just to name a few.
"in your lifetime most existing roads will have tolls.”
– Transportation Commission's chair Ric Williamson,
appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to govern TxDOT
– Transportation Commission's chair Ric Williamson,
appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to govern TxDOT
I believe this will have a crushing effect on our local economy, as the price of all goods and services will rise for forcing drivers to pay the toll to use a public expressways. TxDOT will now have a financial incentive to not fix traffic congestion on frontage roads with stop lights.
The unaccountable bureaucracy has already begun. Carole Keeton Strayhorn found freeway tolling authority board has already given NO BID contracts to themselves and their friends.
Rick Perry calls tolling freeways we've already paid for 'Innovative Financing'. We call it Highway Robbery.
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