Citing booming vehicle traffic in Bexar County, San Antonio City Council's Transportation, Technology and Utilites Committee Wednesday is expect to rubber stamp the latest incarnation of the discredited plan to build toll lanes on Loop 1604 from Bandera Road to I-35, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
But a measure introduced in the Legislature could short circuit the city's dreams of soaking commuters for toll revenue.
State Rep. Scott Sanford (R-McKinney) has introduced a bill that would outlaw any toll lanes on any state highways.
Since Loop 1604 is technically 'Texas State Highway Loop 1604,' the bill would outlaw the city's plans.
"The Department (TxDOT) may not operate all or part of a non tolled state highway, inclduing a non tolled exclusive lane, high occupancy vehicle lane, or other restricted or managed lane as a toll project, and may not transfer all or part of a non tolled highway to another entity for operation as a toll project," Sanford's bill states.
The language would appear to prohibit the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority from operating the project, as has been proposed.
The plan, as approved last month by the ARMA, would spend $882.2 million building toll lanes on the existing median strip between the two lanes of Loop 1604. These would be what are called 'Managed Lanes,' which means they would be free to buses, and for 'government approved car pools,' with people who commute to work alone in their cars, as 98% of San Antonio motorists do, soaked with toll charges to drive on lanes that their tax money have already paid for.
"This is an absolutely outrageous double tax scheme," long time anti-toll activist Terri Hall said. "If lawmakers are going to use our tax money to build a road, it should be a freeway, not a tollway."
Hall pointed out that two highway construction bond proposals, Proposition 1 in 2014 and Proposition 7 in 2015, diverted state revenues to TxDOT 'precisely so the new roads would not be tolled.'
Analysts say this has the potential to cause severe problems for City Hall ahead of the $850 million bond issue up for a vote in May. First, Council attempted to divert $10 million a year from the Advanced Transportation District sales tax, which was approved by voters in 2004 on the promise that the money would be used for 'roads, streets, and sidewalks,' to VIA Metro Transit.
Now, after voter approved two proposals on the promise that they would alleviate the need for toll roads, City Council is proposing using tax money to build toll roads. That could cause credibility promises for the City's attempt to convince voters to approve a bond issue that would include money for earmarked projects.
"What's to stop them from taking all that money, and saying 'to heck with the voters, we're going to give it all to VIA,' said one city government watchdog who asked not to be identified.
The two new lanes would be High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, which is designed to increase ridership on VIA buses, a scheme that Hall says has failed repeatedly. In fact, the definitive report on HOV lanes, which was done by the University of California at Berkeley, said the construction of High Occupancy Vehicle lanes has done nothing whatsoever to increase carpooling or mass transit ridership.
"They take failed policies and keep trying to put lipstick on their pig, and rework it and calling it something different, and think they are going to get different behavior," she said. "The bottom line is, after forty years of HOV lanes being built all around the country, it has not increased mass transit usage one iota. The idea that they can use your money and tolling to force you out of your car and into a bus is ridiculous."
WOAI PHOTO