Tag Archives: toll roads

First Metro HOV toll lane opens tomorrow

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Enjoy your new option, Gulf Freeway commuters. Metro is set to debut its first high-occupancy toll lanes on the Gulf Freeway between Dixie Farm Road and Dowling Street on Monday. This arrangement allows solo drivers to use high-occupancy vehicle, or … Continue reading →

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Tomball toll road

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

They want a toll road in Tomball, and they’re probably going to get it. The Harris County Toll Road Authority is asking that it be allowed to look at State Highway 249, also known as Tomball Parkway, to see whether … Continue reading →

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Here come the HOT lanes

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Those of you who commute from the ‘burbs into the central core will have new options for how to get there, if you don’t mind spending a few bucks. Solo drivers willing to pay extra to breeze through heavy traffic … Continue reading →

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Election results elsewhere

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Results of interest from elsewhere in Texas and the country… – Three of the ten Constitutional amendments were defeated, with Prop 4 losing by nearly 20 points. It drew strong opposition from anti-toll road activists, and I daresay that was … Continue reading →

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Get them while they’re HOT

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Metro is set to open its HOV lanes to single occupancy vehicles, but you’ll pay for the privilege if you choose it. The Metropolitan Transit Authority board Thursday set a range of tolls from $1 to $10, depending on the … Continue reading →

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HuffPo on the Grand Parkway

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Huffington Post take a look at that great boondoggle in northwest Harris County, the Grand Parkway Segment E extension from I-10 to 290. Texas faces a transportation funding gap of $315 billion over the next 20 years, according to … Continue reading →

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Let’s share that toll road revenue

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Have you ever taken the toll road connector from the Hardy Toll Road to IAH? I have, many times. Being able to bypass the traffic on Beltway 8 and JFK Boulevard makes it worthwhile for me to take the Hardy … Continue reading →

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Who wants to help build the Grand Parkway?

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The State of Texas wants to know. The Texas Department of Transportation, which has responsibility for the parkway in Harris, Montgomery and Chambers Counties, is moving toward use of a public-private partnership to get faster funding for the multibillion-dollar, 184-mile … Continue reading →

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Grand Parkway gets state funding

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

No money for schools, but there is money for this. The Texas Transportation Commission [Thursday] morning unanimously approved allocation of $350 million for construction of the Grand Parkway’s Segment E in west Harris County. […] The $350 million approved [Thursday] … Continue reading →

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By the way, we have no money for roads

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Just another issue we won’t be dealing with this session. During the next 20 years, the Texas Department of Transportation will need $315 billion to spend on the state’s roads and freeways for maintenance and construction just to keep traffic … Continue reading →

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Harris County hands the Grand Parkway back to the state

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Commissioners Court wants TxDOT to take over construction of the Grand Parkway. Harris County took control of the project about 15 months ago in the belief that the Texas Department of Transportation did not have the money to build it, … Continue reading →

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More on paying for roads and other forms of transportation

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Given that the private toll road debate is set to gear up again in Texas, it is fortuitous that the Texas Public Interest Research Group, a/k/a TexPIRG, chose last week to release a report called Do Roads pay For Themselves? … Continue reading →

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Will we re-fight the toll road privatization battle?

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe. I’m a little dubious, however. Over a long July Fourth weekend two years ago, with time running out on a chaotic special session, the Legislature refused to extend authority for the Texas Department of Transportation to contract with private … Continue reading →

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The Grand Parkway takes another inevitable step forward

Posted on November 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

No money to fix traffic lights, but there’s always money for the Grand Parkway. Commissioners Court on Tuesday authorized the Harris County Toll Road Authority to negotiate with the Texas Department of Transportation over the development of three Grand Parkway … Continue reading →

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Harris County CIP will ignore Hempstead managed lanes

Posted on June 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Earlier this month, I blogged about the status of the US 290 expansion, for which TxDOT’s plan rested on the assumption that the Harris County Toll Road Authority would go forth with the construction of managed lanes along Hempstead Highway. … Continue reading →

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What’s going on with US 290?

Posted on June 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, I wrote about the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that TxDOT has filed for its proposed expansion of US 290. This is a huge proposal, with a price tag of $4.6 billion if all of it gets done, … Continue reading →

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D Magazine on John Carona

Posted on February 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting profile, worth a read, on State Sen. John Carona, who’s become somewhat of a radical in his party for actually being old-fashioned enough to try to solve problems and make government work. I think he’s right about this: With … Continue reading →

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Raising the gas tax

Posted on November 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is long overdue. Members of the Texas Senate’s Transportation Committee said Tuesday that an increase in the 20-cents-per-gallon state fuel tax may be necessary to overcome a drastic shortage of money for new roads. “We are in the critical … Continue reading →

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City not paying toll road fines

Posted on October 31, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Oops. The city has avoided paying county toll road fines using a defense it does not want motorists to use when contesting red-light camera violations. […] A city finance official claimed the toll fines are owed by the individual employees … Continue reading →

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County doesn’t want to help city collect red light camera fines

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Last year, City Council passed an ordinance that would put a hold on vehicle registrations for which there are outstanding red light camera fines. The city’s ability to do this is contingent on cooperation from the county, as it is … Continue reading →

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KBH, the anti-toll road crusader

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Team Kay takes aim at one of Governor Perry’s many vulnerabilities. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has seized on [the Trans-Texas Corridor] as she seeks to take his job, saying the project and Perry’s transportation policies smack of arrogance. “It’s … Continue reading →

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Just how viable is the Grand Parkway anyway?

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So it’s official, Commissioners Court has voted to seek stimulus funding for the Grand Parkway Segment E despite numerous concerns about the way they went about it. Houston Tomorrow explores a facet of this that I hadn’t been aware of … Continue reading →

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Stimulus funds and road projects

Posted on July 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Stimulus funds are coming to a road that may be near you. Texas received $2.25 billion from the stimulus for transportation. That’s on top of the $3 billion it got in federal highway funds this year. The regular federal allotment … Continue reading →

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That’s a wrap for the special session

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know if it’s a record, but a little more than 30 hours after they gaveled in yesterday, both chambers adjourned sine die today, bringing the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it special session to a close. As noted yesterday, the two bills deemed … Continue reading →

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Two out of three ain’t bad

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So of the three items on the call for this special session, two of them are sailing along. SB2, the Senate bill to keep state agencies like TxDOT alive, has already passed the full Senate by unanimous vote and will … Continue reading →

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And they’re off

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The special session gets started today, with the stated goal of being done by the weekend. House Speaker Joe Straus thinks his chamber can get everything done in three days, while Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is even more ambitious than … Continue reading →

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Special session starts tomorrow

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The special session everyone knew was coming to address the disposition of several state agencies begins tomorrow. So far, at least, the agenda hasn’t changed from the original call. Gov. Rick Perry is being pressed to add issues ranging from … Continue reading →

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It’s only a negative when it’s for something I don’t like

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Matt Yglesias writes about one of my favorite people. Randall O’Toole is a relentless advocate for highways and automobile dependency in the United States. Consequently, I don’t agree with him about very much. But the thing I consistently find most … Continue reading →

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Senate passes TxDOT sunset bill, red light cameras not dead yet

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Senate approved its version of HB300, the TxDOT sunset bill, and as expected it has some major differences from the House version. Plans to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for transportation projects in North Texas progressed Monday night … Continue reading →

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The Senate TxDOT sunset bill is not the House TxDOT sunset bill

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, the massive House sunset bill for TxDOT, HB300, contained a boatload of amendments that greatly altered the original bill, including one that would make TxDOT a 15-member elected commission and one that would have outlawed red light … Continue reading →

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Is it that bogged down already?

Posted on April 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, the long-awaited Katy Freeway managed lanes opened this weekend. This story about its first day of rush-hour operation gives it positive reviews, but what interests me is this: [Lisa Castaneda, a transportation engineer for the Harris County … Continue reading →

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Katy Freeway managed lanes set to open

Posted on April 16, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Christof notices a banner ad on chron.com for the Katy Freeway managed lanes, which are set to open on Monday, April 18, and gives us an update on them. The lanes will now be open 24 hours a day, 7 … Continue reading →

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Taking taxation aversion to its logical extreme

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This story just boggles my mind. Think traffic congestion is bad now? Wait until 2012. That’s when Texas’ highway fund — which relies on a motor fuels tax that hasn’t been raised since 1991 — will be out of money … Continue reading →

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Stimulus? What stimulus?

Posted on March 19, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’m basically agnostic about the plan to convert HOV lanes to HOV-plus-toll lanes that Metro is floating. Like Christof, who was quoted in the story, I don’t think it will make that much difference in terms of actual traffic flow, … Continue reading →

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