Replies

Well stated.

However, I don't see how any private company could get all of the owners, over several hundred miles, to sell out. There will always be a group that will never sell out and there will always be another group that will only sell out at very high cost.

I think what really irks the landowners (and, no, I'm not one of them) is that they will get nothing in return (other than a few bucks) for their land. The toll road is being built for the exclusive purpose of making money for Cintra (which is understandable, as they are a private company).

Considering the wide spacing of exits, and the fact that people and business stay away from toll roads as much as possible, the land owners have no future with Cintra.

In the Houston area, the Grand Parkway (basically a loop about 20 miles radius from downtown) was originally proposed as a freeway. They landowners on that route offered to DONATE their land to the state - obviously expecting the adjacent land to greatly increase in value. The state changed its mind several years ago and decided to make it a toll road. The owners turned around and told the state that they now have to buy the land (so in addition to the very expensive infrastructure needed to for tolling, the state also lost a chance for free right-of-way land).

So now the state is trying to start building pieces of this toll road (the Grand Parkway), but the true stakeholders, the people with their money on the line, see it as nothing but a huge white elephant. But I guess Texas is just too proud to learn from the toll road disasters in other states, particularly California.

I have no problem with Cintra making money as such. I have no use, however, for companies that achieve profit at the expense of citizens who receive less than the potential value for their real property due to the state exercising the power of eminent domain. Being an advocate of limited government, and not an anarchist, I recognize the power of eminent domain as being necessary, a necessary evil if you will, to carry out the legitimate functions of government. The construction of public highways has been a function of government since at least the days of the Romans. It is hard to imagine how private enterprise could effectively own or manage city streets, rural roads, and other avenues of commerce. Road and street construction and maintenance are legitimate functions of state and local governments (though not the Feds).

I am not an opponent of toll roads per se, as they provide a more rapid means to build roads than do gasoline tax revenues. Dallas has greatly benefited from the Dallas North Tollway and the Bush Turnpike, and the same could no doubt be said for the Houston area toll roads. However, these roads are operated by commissions appointed by the Governor and local officials. The commissioners are supposed to operate for the general good of the citizens and are answerable to state and county officials. No one group of citizens benefits exclusively from the toll roads operating in Houston and Dallas. The same cannot be said for the Cintra proposal.

I am skeptical as to whether the Trans Texas Corridor is a good idea, although the intercity capacity of the current Interstate system is seriously deficient. The involvement of a for profit private entity benefiting from eminent domain power is unacceptable.