Regarding the Austin toll road plan, in favor or against ?

[amber dog democrat]

I am also interested in how people feel about the recall movements for Will Wyn and the other council members.

[Longhorn]

1. I live in Dripping Springs

so I have no say in the recall efforts. I'm not happy about the toll road plan but I don't think I would join a recall effort over it. A lot of the dissent is over what MIGHT happen and even though I will be affected when I travel around Austin, at this point, I'm willing to see what DOES happen.

Some of the folks who are against the toll plan do not sound like people with which I wish to be associated; they are sending rude, threatening letters and such. From what I can tell, the votes on the toll plan aren't as black and white as some would have us think.

I'm sure there are others who know more about this than I do. I've done some reading on both sides and can actually see both sides of the issue.

[amber dog democrat]

2. If already existing roads were left alone, I would not care either way.

Converting completed roads already paid for is different.

and so far I don't think the toll road proposal has made its case.
I wish more effort would have gone into selling this to the Austin voters.

I have not signed the petition for the recall, nor to I have lots in common with the people suporting the recall, but I can't see the benefit of the CAMPO plan yet.

I am trying to .

This may be the results of the Bush Admin tax cuts. State and Local Govts are being underfunded nation wide.

[GOPisEvil]

3. More regressive fees, instead of revamping the tax system.

Also the incusion of roads that are already built is unconscionable.

I'm not a big believer in recall efforts, unless there is criminal activity or some such thing. I will remember the votes of our city council members and mayor at the next election, though.

[amber dog democrat]

5. as will I

and the sad thing is that I acutally liked some of them. I hate to do this but i am including Sam Biscoe too - some one I will not vote for next time around.
What were they thinking? What did they know that we didn't ?

[Longhorn]

4. For what it's worth

here's what the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority has to say about it: http://www.ctrma.org/documents/The%20Facts%20About%20the%20Toll%20Road%20Plan.pdf

They don't agree the tolls are being applied to existing roads. The current roads will become "free" frontage roads.

And they say it's not double taxation as there is no money currently available for new construction in Travis County -- the taxes we pay are not earmarked for our own roads.

I'm not arguing their points, just bringing them up for discussion.

[amber dog democrat]

6. Well as long as I can still get to the airport

with out having to pay for the privelledge, this is good. But this is not the way it was rolled out in the American Statesman. Parts of 183 and other roads, ( 360 ? )
were going to get a make over.

It seems more like they are in a growing firestorm -
And this is being pushed by the Governor.

< snyp >

"They don't agree the tolls are being applied to existing roads. The current roads will become "free" frontage roads."

This is interesting. This is the first time I heard this. I need to know more about how this is going to happen. It sounds like the toll roads will be built over or next the the exixting ones than. In that case, and I may not even BE here in Austin by then,
I can accept an extra stoplight or two., ;I won't be using the toll roads unless I have no other choice. Thanks for that comment. interesting.

[NoPasaran]

7. I think they're being economical with the truth

Obviously there was money for the William Cannon overpass on Loop 1. I drive by there every day and work started long before the decision was made to make it a toll road.

[el_gato]

8. It's funny how they don't put it up to the voters but they do with rail

This plan would get voted down in a heartbeat.

[amber dog democrat]

9. Yup How far would it fly

if they did? I still think this is going to backfire. And i am not one of those who are getting together with the pitchforks and torches = to storm Frankenstein's castle.

More public discussion was needed.

[GOPisEvil]

10. Good point.

I can't believe we're going to have to pay twice (if you park) to go to the airport. That's amazing.

[sonias]

11. Against it

We were totally screwed. I don't like Will Wynn or Brewster McCracken for other reasons but this adds to the reasons why they must be voted off the City Council. Danny Thomas has actually grown on me and I would not vote to recall him. His vote for the toll roads does bother me. Dawnna Dukes and Gonzalo Barrientos also voted yes. Can't figure out why they voted that way at all.

I can understand the frustration of the group organizing the recall. They see an immediate connect with the frustration of voters who contacted these CAMPO reps, so they feel these CAMPO members must be held accountable. Citizen communication on the toll roads was overwhelmingly against the toll roads, and it was huge for a single issue.

However, having worked on getting signatures for other ballot items (not recall efforts) I know this is a very daunting task. And even when you succeed in getting the number of signatures, by the time the item makes the ballot a lot of that anger will have passed. So I don't think this effort will succeed either, in the recall effort part anyway. They probably will get the signatures to make it to the ballot, but Wynn and McCracken will survive. It will weaken them though and so their next re-election campaign will be tougher.

Sonia

[amber dog democrat]

12. This is too bad. I kinda like Sam Biscoe

and had respected D Dukes. Barrientos, I 'm less than impressed with and will happily vote against him the first chance I get. Couldn't a better job of selliing this to the public have happened first?

Just a lame " we have no funding for new roads and new roads will fix Austin's traffic woes, reminds me of supporting the STNP boondogle - that upped our electric bills and saddled us with an incompetantly managed nuclear power plant.


sorry for the rant...but back to the toll road fait accompli... how many people have you met that are in favor of it.? I don't know anyone yet.
The way I feel now, and i have long prejucicial memories, I AM voting against the members of the CAMPO board in my jurisdiction. Plus I'll sign the petitition if one comes my way.

At least I feel are owed a better explaination on why this thing passed.

[sonias]

13. The only people I know that support it, are the 16 that voted yes

I agree that I have yet to meet one person in my regular circles that supported them. Recently someone on a Yahoo Democrats group did an informal poll so that he could send Brewster McCracken some feedback. He said McCracken felt that it was largely Republicans that opposed the plan. That of course was not true. Anyway the poll came back 95% against toll roads in this totally hardcore Democrats list. I have no idea how large that list was.

Sonia

[amber dog democrat]

15. I need to ping his office - not that he will want to hear from me.

I really really think they miscalculated on how the public will respond.
There will be consequences. If McCracken does not know this now, he will eventually.
So much for leadership.

[TexasBushwhacker]

14. AGAINST IT!

As someone who recently relocated from Houston, where we have toll roads and love them, I cannot believe that Austin, of all places, was so short sited by not building NEW ROADS to be used as toll roads. You can't just say, okay, now these roads will be toll roads and if you don't want to pay the toll, you'll have to use the frontage road, which will have EXTRA traffic BECAUSE THEY AREN'T BUILDING NEW ROADS. Seriously, I thought Austin had it together! How did they fuck this up?

In Houston the toll roads were planned and built over several years time. They also paid for themselves in just a few years. Since they were new roads, they did provide some traffic relief whether you paid to use them or not. Unless the CAMPO plan adds a significant number of new roads or a significant widening of existing roads, it will not provide ANY traffic relief.

[amber dog democrat]

16. This has to be coming from Perry.

There are other cities that will be converting completed roads to toll roads.
Planning be damned. This is about shifting the revenue that normally came through taxes and shifting the burden over to the regressive fees drivers who use these roads will pay. I am taking the access road. Meanwhile I am voting against the ones who knuckeled under to TXDOT and the Governor's office.