Posted on 10/20/2007 3:23:51 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Toll road contract in Texas allows state to lower speed limits on nearby interstate freeway to avoid paying penalties to a private company.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has agreed to consider lowering the maximum speed limit on a stretch of interstate highway that competes with a planned toll road. Cintra-Zachary, a joint Spanish-US venture, paid TxDOT $1.3 billion for the right to collect tolls on 40-miles of State Highway 130 set for construction beginning in 2009. Although TxDOT suggested that free market competition was part of the goal of using a public-private partnerships to construct and operate roads, the contract it signed on March 22 to construct this portion of SH130 was specifically designed to limit the desirability of alternate, free routes.
"The compensation amount owing from TxDOT to Developer on account of the competing facility shall be equal to the loss of toll revenues, if any, attributable to the competing facility," the contract states. (11.3.2.1)
The provision ensures no improvements can be made to nearby roads unless the agency issues payment to the Spanish-US private consortium with taxpayer funds. TxDOT can reduce the amount of compensation owed, however, if it agrees to increase toll revenue by imposing a "decrease in the maximum daytime posted speed limit for passenger vehicles on all or a substantial portion of I-35 where it runs generally parallel to the Facility." This means that TxDOT can recover money generated by additional tolls as motorists abandon I-35 because of the lowered limit and increased congestion.
The net effect of the clause is to dissuade, without prohibiting, any improvements on competing roads. TxDOT has argued that it is strapped for cash and therefore has no alternative but to turn to private sector tolling to fund new roads. Future improvements to free lanes would become less likely when the agency must pay not only the cost of labor and materials, but a compensation to nearby toll road operators as well.
In the past, so-called "non-compete" language in tolling contracts resulted in a blanket prohibition on the construction of new roads or engineering improvements intended to ease congestion. Non-compete clauses raised public anger in the case of the SR91 Express Lanes in Orange County, California. More recent agreements have tended to focus on introducing "traffic calming" measures on competing roads intended to drive traffic off of pay roads and onto toll roads, as was seen last year in Sydney, Australia's Cross City Tunnel (view parliamentary report on the tunnel).
TxDOT has also reserved the right to add contract language that would limit improvements to free roads near the planned Trans Texas Corridor toll road.
"The foregoing rights shall be subject to any covenant regarding competing facilities that may be entered into in connection with the development and operation of a Facility," the agency's TTC-35 Comprehensive Development Agreement states. (18.2)
Excerpts from the competition portion of the SH130 contract are available in a 351k PDF file at the source link below.
Source: Facility Concession Agreement, SH130 Segments 5 and 6 (Texas Department of Transportation, 3/22/2007)
“free market competition was part of the goal of using a public-private partnerships””
Free market, LOL. It’s shared monopoly money.
RATS! Somebody beat me to the cuespookymusic keyword. DRAT!!
If there were xxxxxxxxx over this and I were on the jury, I’d vote not guilty.
This kind of stuff is going on all over in government. You just never find out about it. There is so much corruption.
When I first signed up on line for the TXDOT pass thing I noticed that the web app date/time stamp was way off... at least for Texas, it was fine if you were in SPAIN!!!
Rick Perry is a amazingly stupid man. He has no talent and no skills so when he leaves office he needs all the connections he can get his hands on. So he pushes deals like this.
BTTT
So in other words if the “state” and Cintra don’t make as much money as they want...The existing highways will be allowed to go into such disrepair as to effect the safety of the “free-road” public...
Hmmmm, I’m thinking a revolution is in order...Or just not pay taxes anymore till this idea is utterly destroyed...Unfortunately I’m going to have to see how deep my State Rep and State Senator are in this...If I can’t light a bonfire underneath them, this may have to get very interesting...
Enough is enough...
The new road should be the only road those damn big trucks can drive on, leave I35 for other traffic. Drove it the other weekend, couldn’t believe the traffic, not helped by 18 wheelers overtaking each other with a 2mph differential.
Oh, and on the new road make the first exit ramp at its proposed first US Customs facility in Kansas City :)
Today I got a “bill” in the mail, from TxDOT, with no explanation.
I called the 1-800 number on the bill, and was told that it was not a fine for running a toll booth or anything, but that there is a certain stretch of 121 whch is considered a toll road, even though there are no toll booths.
I wonder how many others have gotten this bill. It is outrageous to me.
I am going to get the spray for my license plate that makes it impossible for the cameras to photograph your license plate. It is invisible to the eye until a camera photographs your license plate (supposedly). It’s worth a try.
Did you go under an overhead gantry on 121? It would look something like a road sign frame without road signs on it, and it would span the entire highway. And you might see cameras on it, too.
>>Did you go under an overhead gantry on 121? It would look something like a road sign frame without road signs on it, and it would span the entire highway. And you might see cameras on it, too.<<
I’m sure I did, but didn’t notice.
I think what galls me most is receiving a “invoice” with no explanation, no dates, no times, no intersection, etc., just a Texas Tollways logo at top, and at the bottom “Thanks for using Texas Tollways!”
There was no reason given WHATSOEVER for the “invoice.”
Where is all this new “stealth tax” going, anyway? I absolutely despise the sneaky, power-grubbing, money-grubbing bastards running the government, from the White House on down.
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