Posted on 07/02/2006 1:22:43 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
UPDATE with environment report, financing details, tariffs structure
MADRID (AFX) - A consortium led by Cintra Concesiones Infraestructuras SA said it has signed its first contract to build a section of the Trans-Texas Corridor toll road project in the US and will invest 1.3 bln usd.
In a statement, Cintra said the 50-year concession is to design, construct and operate segments 5 and 6 of the SH 130 motorway between Austin and Seguin.
The consortium is 65 pct controlled by Cintra and 35 pct by local constructor Zachry.
Cintra announced the contract in Dec 2004, and said it expected to develop 6 bln usd of motorway projects over the next five years as part of the project.
The final approval of the contract is subject to environmental approval which may come within 6-8 months, Cintra said.
Financing for the project is yet to be finalized though the constructor is expecting to pay with 20-30 pct of its own funds and 70-80 pct debt.
Cintra added that the tariff scheme for the motorway will be 0.125 usd/mile for light vehicles and 0.50 usd/mile for heavy vehicles in 2006, and will be increased in-line with Texas' GDP per capita each year.
>>>>When they built the Interstates through the American cities, the cities died.
Route 66. The Will Rogers Highway. Main Street of America. Mother Road.
It was killed by the Interstate Highway Act.
I remember all of that mess and more.
Bump.
So when is the vote?
Typical hyperbole. My point was, that this is a road we've already paid with with our taxes, now the toll authority wants to take it over and tax us again for it.
Right. And the TTC has what to do with that again?
not when there are no borders.
As an aside, I should mention that those velcro fasteners (the industrial ones, not the cheap crap you find at Ace Hardware) that one uses to attach the EZ-Pass to the windshield are available for free at the Illinois Tollway Authority HQ and at most tollbooths. You simply have to ask.
LOL - you are so very welcome to Texas.
From my distant viewpoint on the workings of NJ, it has always reminded me of how LA operates. The company that did the work.....do you remember who it was? Was it a local, national, or (gasp) foreign? Just curious.
"Route 66. The Will Rogers Highway. Main Street of America. Mother Road.
It was killed by the Interstate Highway Act."
O.K.. Thanks. I wondered in what context you posted that Route 66 sign.
It's a grave marker.
| TTC-35 Comprehensive Development Agreement - Overview [ pdf / 96kb ] |
| TTC-35 Comprehensive Development Agreement - Signed Document [ pdf / 720kb ] |
| TTC-35 Comprehensive Development Agreement - Exhibits A - R [ pdf / 1645kb ] |
| TTC-35 Comprehensive Development Agreement - Cintra-Zachry Fact Sheet [ pdf / 111kb ] |
Thanks, deport.
TSR, you may be interested in post #251, in case you want to add the Cintra TTC-35 agreements to future relevant threads.
Thanks, deport.
TSR, you may be interested in post #251, in case you want to add the Cintra TTC-35 agreements to future relevant threads.
Actually it is true. 121 until recently (yesterday?) was just feeder roads, which will remain free. The NEW construction of the mainlanes is what will be tolled, and the decision to toll those was made 2 years ago (obviously before they were built.) Because certain sections are now finished but the toll collection apparatus won't be until September, they are going to go ahead and open up those lanes to free use between now and then, rather than let that portion sit finished but unused until the tolling system is ready. A wise decision. I think there may have been another overpass or two that were completed earlier, also.
BTW, the North Texas Toll Authority is a gov't agency, so there aren't any profits. The excess proceeds go into a reinvestment fund for other tollway and highway projects.
Ya know, they sell bottled water now, it is more expensive per gallon than gasoline. Should they be banned from selling it, since tap water is free? People (not me) choose to pay more for bottle water, just like they can choose to pay to use a toll road, or stick to the free feeder roads on 121.
zeugma, you need to look at what has been happening and what will possibly happen on portions of SH121. NTTA plans to submit to TxDOT a CDA [Comprehensive Development Agreement] on or by Nov. 30, 2006 for sections of SH121. TxDot can choose to go tolling or reject and fund as a state project. You have until July 14, 2000 to submit any comments to NTTA should you so desire about their intent.
Four other entities on are on the short list to submit proposals to TxDot on SH121.... They are:
* Skanska BOT (Granite Construction, Morgan Stanley)
* Macquarie Infrastructure (Gilbert/Abrams, Kiewit)
* Cintra (Ferrovial Agroman)
* Pioneer Heritage Partners (Transurban, Fluor, Parsons, Balfour Beatty)
http://www.ntta.org/pub/pub/NOISH121.pdf
Uh, 121 was not a feeder road. It's a state highway just like many others across the state. I suppose it's o.k. with you if they decide to slap up toll booths on any road they decide to finally get around to doing improvements on. Sorry, but that's not o.k. with me. We already paid for the road both with federal and state taxes. Now, the little empire-building trolls at the toway authority want to just come along behind and make it, and anything else they can get their hands on into a toll road.
Now, if they want to get rid of the gasoline taxes, I'd be willing to look at this as a way of funding things, but like everything else with government, there is no amount of money that is enough. They'll keep coming for more, and more because it is the nature of things. Having the foreign company Centras will not make it any better either.
Right nowthey are estimating a cost of 13 cents per mile for the TTC. That's another 13 cents/mi on top of the gas taxes I already pay. However, from what I've read of other places where this company is running tollroads, that 13 cents/mi is just the starting point which will be raised whenever the company feels like it. I'd be willing to bet that you'll see it at 50c/mi within 10 years, just because they can. And guess what? We'll still be paying 30c plus/gal to buy gasoline as well. I see this entire movement by the state to implement tolls everywhere they can as just another way to soak the taxpayers to fund their bloated beurocracies.
Time was, in Texas anyway, once a toll road was paid off from the toll collections, the road would be converted into a free road. Not any more. They'll be eternal now decades after they have been paid off because the state will always spend every single dime it can get its grubby hands on.
BTW, the North Texas Toll Authority is a gov't agency, so there aren't any profits. The excess proceeds go into a reinvestment fund for other tollway and highway projects.
You mean like the same way all gas taxes go for the building and maintennance of roads? LOL.
121 was a 2 or 4-lane highway with stoplights. In some sections it was expanded into feeder roads, and now the mainlanes are going in. When complete the mainlanes will be tolled, and the feeders will be 4-6 lanes total and free. So even with adding the tolling, there will be more free lanes than before.
As pointed out a thousand times on these threads, the gas tax is barely covering maintenance, as inflation has reduced its relative buying power and road costs (steel and concrete) have risen faster than inflation. Even if the approx. 1/3rd of the gas tax that is diverted to education is added back (which of course it should be) it still will fall well short of funding the needed projects. Tolling is the only way to fill in that financial gap without raising taxes or not building many of the needed roads.
Are you attempting to claim that they are not making record revenue from gas taxes?
I really don't understand why peole so strongly support the ever expanding tax bite of the state. I never support increasing methods for the state to extort more money out of us. They should learn to live within their means.
You are using the same argument that Democrats use to scream record profits. Of course revenue is increasing each year, but costs are increasing at a much faster rate, because of inflation and the scale of the amount of roads needed. If you hadn't had a pay increase (no cost of living adjustments) in a dozen years but had more children to feed and the prices of everything you buy increased with inflation, is your buying power now the same as a dozen years ago? That's how inflation eats away at the gas tax, as has increased fuel efficiency.
Each year Texas gains more than 400,000 new residents. That's a new Austin area every 3-4 years, and a heck of a lot of new roads that are needed to service the houses, workplaces, retailers, and related support facilities. Living within our means doesn't mean stop building roads in the face of the fastest growth Texas has every seen. If you have more children do you fail to buy more food?
But that's why these toll roads are a conservative solution. It allows us to bring in more money without raising taxes. You only pay if you CHOOSE to use the road.
Look up the numbers, they don't lie. Like I said, I used to be against tolling until I started researching road funding in Texas. I was researching to fight the idea of bringing more tollways to the state, but the facts I found changed my mind.
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