Vince May letter to Dukes

Nov 9, 2006

State Rep Dawnna Dukes
CAMPO Board

Ms Dukes,
It appears that CAMPO is preparing to vote on the toll road question. The agenda for the 9-13 Monday night meeting has an item, #3, that will schedule a public hearing on toll roads for January 17, 2007.
http://www.campotexas.org/pdfs/item3Nov.pdf (small pdf file)
The January vote won't mention toll roads. But the outcome of this vote will decide the issue. CAMPO will be voting on the "TIP" (Transportation Improvement Program). TxDOT will be asking for authorization to begin spending hundreds of millions of dollars for engineering work on Phase II roads. The TxDOT spokesman will lie to the CAMPO Board and say "If we spend this money for engineering work, the roads can be constructed as either free roads or toll roads, when CAMPO makes up its mind."
Let me explain. On Sept 25, in response to a reader question, Mr Ben Wear wrote about the new section of US 183. The reader wanted to know why there was no exit from the SouthBound (SB) US 183 mainlanes at the US 290 interchange. We have to exit SB 183 before Cameron Rd, and sit through those lights, if we want to turn onto 290E. Mr Wear said that Mr Bob Daigh of TxDOT told him that there was not enough room for a ramp.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/09/25/25wear.html
This is not the only change for 183 and 290 users. If you are headed WestBound (WB) on 290 and turn SB onto 183, you now are forced to stop at the light on Springdale Rd. We can no longer use a bridge that we have used for 30 years. If you are headed NB on 183 and want to turn onto 290, you also now have to stop at the Springdale light. (I have a written promise from Ben Wear that he will write a column about this, plus all of the other currently free bridges on 183 that TxDOT will steal from us. But I think his editors won't let him write it. The Statesman strives to keep its readers ignorant.)
People traveling WB on 290 who turn onto NB 183 are also unable to get on the mainlanes until after they go trough the Cameron traffic signal. Congestion on the 183 frontage roads is just as bad as it was before the brand new section of 183 opened. How could this happen?
TxDOT designed, engineered and constructed 183 as a toll road. Their intent is to make life on the free lanes so miserable that people will get on the toll road and stay on the toll road at all times. Please recall that the work on US 183 was paid for 100% with gas taxes, yet TxDOT has stabbed us in the back and built a road that only functions well as a toll road, and only if 290E is also tolled.
This is why CAMPO must vote against putting any Phase II roads in the TIP. TxDOT has already designed the Phase II roads as toll roads. I have the maps to prove it. If you give TxDOT hundreds of millions of dollars they will engineer them as toll roads. That will be an irrevocable act.
If CAMPO later decides that CAMPO really wanted free roads, CAMPO will have to find hundreds of millions of dollars for new engineering work. That is impossible, so we will be stuck with toll roads. This is why CAMPO must vote for, or against, toll roads before putting the Phase II roads in the TIP.
I also question the timing of the January 17 vote. The people of Travis County have elected new leaders who will be answerable to us. A February vote would allow their voices to be heard. This is not just a lament about 'lame ducks.'
CAMPO member Mr Bob Daigh is serial liar. No vote on toll roads should be taken while he sits on the board. Other members have lied. I have compelling reason to believe that Chairman Barrientos sold his vote on toll roads. (I will provide detailed reports in a future letters.) For that reason, we should wait until incoming Senator Kirk Watson replaces Chairman Barrientos.
Let me summarize how I believe the people of east Travis County would want you, our representative, to vote:
1) On 9-13 you should vote against the proposed 2007 calendar, as written. It should be amended to remove any TIP vote in January.
2) CAMPO should vote on the toll road question (the moratorium) in February.
3) A vote on including the Phase II toll roads in the TIP should come after CAMPO has voted for, or against, tolling.
4) CAMPO should begin an immediate investigation of Mr Bob Daigh's fitness to continue on the Board.
Sincerely,
Vincent J May
272-5343

PS: I spoke with Mr Art Zamorano on 11-02. I noted that the CAMPO web site is missing numerous archives of meeting minutes. He acknowledged my concern and said the he would restore them back online if the board gives him support. All government bodies in Texas are required to maintain official records. Good government bodies make their records available online.
I take note of the deletion of the Preliminary Feasibility Analysis studies from the CTRMA web site. These studies are the only foundation documents CTRMA has in support of tolling. I am on record as calling officials at CTRMA liars with a criminal disregard for Texas law. You now have more proof.
The Feasibility studies had significantly different numbers from what CRA presented. For instance, CTRMA said that 290E would have 43k mainlane users in 2030 and 101k vehicles using the frontage roads. CRA did not give counts but said that the tolled 290E mainlanes would be moving at 33mph, which is consistent with >150k vehicles.
The numbers for other Phase II roads also varied widely between CTRMA and CRA. I will supply the missing CTRMA studies to anyone who will put them online for public use.