Texans driven mad as tolls burn holes in their wallets

The Texas Tribune ^ | November 17, 2017 | Alex Samuels

[Spktyr]

Bingo. No money, no activity. Texas also doesn’t have the CA ‘general’ slush fund to slosh around to cover screw ups. If a project runs out of money, that’s it, it’s over.

[PAR35]

No, the same reason you can’t ride frontage roads between Mockingbird and Northwest Highway - rich folks neighborhoods.

Just look at what DART is going to do with the Cotton Belt line between Plano and DFW when they get to the rich folks in Coppell.

[snoringbear]

“Just look at what DART is going to do with the Cotton Belt line between Plano and DFW when they get to the rich folks in Coppell.”

What’s DART going to do?

[PAR35]

Link to PDF map: https://www.dart.org/images/meetingsimages/cottonbeltmapmay2017.pdf

Note the loop down off the old Cotton Belt rail line labeled on that map “Cypress Waters Alternative” to keep it away from Coppell residential areas. .

[snoringbear]

“No, the same reason you can’t ride frontage roads between Mockingbird and Northwest Highway - rich folks neighborhoods”

Yeah, I hate that drive. In fact, I encourage friends and relatives to fly into DFW instead of Love because if that stretch. Btw, there have been numerous attempts to get an Eminent Domain ruling passed for that piece of road but as you stated, lots of rich folks with political clout along the route. Also, would cost a double fortune to buy out the owners. Btw #2, Texas has very strong property rights laws and traditions; goes back to having been a nation and ranching and farming culture. So, the stretch of Mockingbird may never be widened - at least not till present owners die off and/or these properties depreciate in value to a point that the owners consider selling a favorable transaction. Same situation that killed the Trans Texas Corridor which I was for.

[snoringbear]

“Note the loop down off the old Cotton Belt rail line labeled on that map “Cypress Waters Alternative” to keep it away from Coppell residential areas. .”

I saw it. So, is that a bad thing to do?

[PAR35]

>>”Is it a bad thing”

For the taxpayers, yes. For folks who bought homes near a rail line who don’t like the sound of trains, not so bad. And it will help keep those folks from east Plano away from their homes.

[kearnyirish2]

Our tolls in NJ stink but they are nothing compared to tolls to cross into NYC (they can be more than $15 just to cross a bridge - ridiculous). It is hard for NJ to raise the gas tax (though they’ve done it) because it is very easy for people to drive through without stopping for gas even once.

[snoringbear]

Yup, agree. It’s been awhile since I’ve been up that way. But, at one time, there were no self-pump gas stations and there were no camera or automated toll-tag toll booths, all were staffed with people. Is it still that way?

[Svartalfiar]

Well my BS meter is going off on parts of this article.. Someone is really anti-tolls.

$200 a month is a pretty good price for childcare, has she considered talking to the other parents and maybe working out days where they can help watch her kid so she's not in such a rush? Also, why is she taking Sam Rayburn? She should go from 75 to GBush OR 635(no tolls!), then take 35 the rest of the way north. She can do this without using any toll roads, and still be all highway miles.

For Christie Nichols Duty of Kaufman, a town about 35 miles southeast of Dallas, toll roads have proven to be hard to avoid — even when she tries. Last year, she and her husband were driving on Interstate 35-E near downtown Dallas when they realized they were in a lane that would force them to enter the Dallas North Tollway. The couple tried to change lanes, but weren’t successful...
When the couple received a $35 bill from the North Texas Tollway Authority, they didn’t initially pay it because they weren't happy with being "forced onto the tollway." Now it’s ballooned into a $1,200 bill.

What?!! The signs are pretty clear when DNT splits off from 35. You have plenty of time to get over, and a wide shoulder after the split if you decide to be dumb. Also, why wouldn't you just take the first exit? Taking DNT from the beginning all the way up to Frisco is THIRTY MILES and only costs about $9 ($6 with a TollTag). A $35 bill is WAAAY more than accidentally getting on DNT once.
And how does that turn into $1200? When I got my truck, NTTA had trouble adding my paper/new plates to my account. So after a couple months, first non-payment is a $10 fee, the second is $25. To get to $1200 in fees means they didn't pay for quite a while. And they'll usually take off quite a bit of those fees if you talk to them since it's 100% easy profit, no cost for them.

toll roads have proven to be hard to avoid — even when she tries.

Where would she be going that tolls are hard to avoid? Anywhere in Dallas has plenty of regular highways for her to take. Kaufman is so far out there's nothing there. Tollways are pretty much all north Dallas, and GBush looping around but that one's easy to avoid. To drive from Kaufman, the only way the best route anywhere in the Metroplex would include a tollway would be if the regular highways had tons of traffic/accidents.

Duty said they’ve also had problems with confusing signs on other highways, like LBJ Freeway, that have managed toll lanes running alongside main lanes.

This one is somewhat true, it is definitely confusing but after you accidentally get on 635tollway the first time, you really don't make that mistake again.

[kearnyirish2]

There are a lot more automated toll booths, and a lot of incentive to use them (bumbling affirmative action-types on cellphones moving at a snail’s pace in the manned ones); we still have no self-serve for gas.