Local Officials Deal With Fallout of State's Decision on Toll Roads

"Texas lawmakers have gone from championing to criticizing toll roads, a shift that some Houston-area leaders worry has gone too far and could limit upcoming projects," reports Dug Begley.

Responding to the growing backlash against toll roads, Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal is quoted in the article saying, "Without toll roads and that funding, I don't know what we are going to do."

Despite the state's continued growth, the Texas Transportation Commission recently pulled the plug on two projects in the Dallas and Austin areas from the state's ten-year transportation plan "because proposed expansions of Interstate 635 and Interstate 35 rely on a mix of state funding and toll revenues," according to Begley's explanation of the decision. Planetizen correspondent Irvin Dawid recently provided thorough coverage of the state government's pushback on toll roads. Begley's coverage focuses more on the options for local officials in the Houston area trying to plan for more growth.