Budget cuts cause toll project shuffle

Budget cuts cause toll project shuffle

Written by Christi Covington and Shannon Colletti Friday, 11 April 2008

Continued budget cuts and funding shortfalls are taking a toll on the Texas Department of Transportation to the point that TxDOT may not be available to help with two major—and controversial—projects in Southwest Austin.

TxDOT agreed last October to finance the design of a toll road at the terminus of south MoPac that would travel east and end at FM 1626, called Toll 45 SW.

However, a $1.1 billion accounting mistake led the state office of TxDOT to require its Austin district to make increasing cuts. Now the answer of how to pay for the project is less certain. Another toll project at the Y in Oak Hill was also expected to be partially funded by TxDOT.

“If the pot shrinks, will [TxDOT] redirect the shrunken pot to these same projects?” said Maureen McCoy, interim director of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which creates short-term and long-term transportation plans for Austin and Travis County. “We just don’t know, right now.”

She does acknowledge that technically, Toll 45 SW could still begin construction within the next year as planned, but it would probably be without the help of TxDOT.

Background

Toll roads are the new trend in Central Texas transportation. In North Austin and Williamson County, the Central Texas Turnpike was built in the last few years, with construction continuing on Toll 130. Another highway, Toll 45 SE, will be completed early in 2009, linking Austin’s southern IH 35 boundary to Toll 130. The 7.4-mile segment, which meets at IH 35 and FM 1327, will create direct access to Georgetown in the north. The non-traditional funding used for these projects aroused controversy from the communities affected by them, but the upset was strongest in Southwest Austin, according to McCoy.

Not only do Toll 45 SW and the Oak Hill Y toll cover environmentally sensitive areas, the Y project aligns with an existing road.

Originally, Toll 45 SW was going to be part of a tax-supported loop that encircled Austin by linking it to RM 620 in the west and to other roads in the east. Some of those roads now exist as new toll projects. That was two decades ago. A portion of 45 SW, toll free, was even built in 1992 and 1993. However, when toll roads became an option for TxDOT around 2000, the segment was scheduled for this sort of funding to expedite it.

“There was a change in philosophy and a change in funding at TxDOT and they came pretty quickly to making [these roads] a toll facility,” Daniel said. “I think that took some people by surprise.”

Toll 45 SW was put on CAMPO’s Transportation Improvement Program list, or short-term project list, in 2004, meaning construction was authorized to begin by fiscal year 2008. That document lapsed, so CAMPO put it on the schedule again last October and this time TxDOT identified funds for its design—at least until the call for the cuts came last November. Current estimates suggest the project will cost $76 million.

A similar scenario has surrounded the Y. Don Nyland, the South Austin area engineer for TxDOT, has worked with the department for around 20 years. He remembers seeing plans for the Y at least since the 1980s when the staff completed an engineering report of the area. At one point in the mid-1990s, he said, funds were set aside to build the project with tax money and not with toll revenue. He said when the community asked for a redesign, the money was reallocated elsewhere and the funds were never available after that. Then TxDOT decided to make it a toll road. Now the two major flyovers at the existing Hwy. 290 and Hwy. 71 intersection that create the Y are estimated to cost more than $400 million and are scheduled to both begin construction by 2011.

Funding fiasco

To build toll roads, CAMPO does the planning and prioritizing, and traditionally, TxDOT was the major funding mechanism and implementer.

However, when the Austin district for TxDOT heard of the continued funding shortfalls, the staff immediately asked the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority for help.

A tolling authority formed by Travis and Williamson counties in 2003, the CTRMA recently built its first project, Toll 183A, in Northwest Austin. After traffic counts increased more quickly than expected when the highway opened in 2007, the CTRMA was deemed a success and is now receiving requests to take over many of TxDOT’s toll projects—including Toll 45 SW and the Y at Oak Hill.

The CTRMA has its own funding with project monies generated mostly through selling bonds, which are paid through toll revenue. Although not completely self-sustaining, it builds projects, makes money and then builds more.

CAMPO had already designated CTRMA last October as the ultimate operator of the two Southwest Austin projects last fall, but according to Steve Pustelnyk, CTRMA director of communications, TxDOT was going to finance the design, along with three other Central Texas highway projects. As a result of budget cuts, TxDOT grants that were supposed to go to build the CTRMA tolls may be reduced by as much as one-third. Pustelnyk said that means the projects might be delayed because CTRMA may not be able to make up the difference. He is not sure for how long. At this point, he said the CTRMA will need to reprioritize once TxDOT gives the final number, but TxDOT does not know when the announcement will come.

“The perfect storm”

Meanwhile, TxDOT’s future role in other toll projects possibly on Southwest Austin’s far horizon is uncertain. TxDOT is still trying to figure out how to rebuild its budget while caring for an existing transportation system.

Chris Lippincott, spokesman for the government and public affairs division of TxDOT, cited several reasons for the budget cuts, calling them an “unfortunate convergence of events.”

In the last two years, along with other cuts around the nation, the federal government announced that $666 million of promised funds would not be available to the State of Texas. Lippincott said TxDOT anticipates nearly $950 million in additional rescissions by 2009.

The Highway Trust Fund is quickly reaching a point of fiscal crisis. As early as next year, it will begin to run negative balances, Lippincott said.

Some other factors have challenged TxDOT at the state level. During its last session, the legislature moved $1.5 billion from the state highway fund to pay for other state priorities during fiscal year 2009, which starts in October, Lippincott said. In the same session, the state legislature restricted private sector investment, which was used to build the Central Texas Turnpike. Maintenance also costs the TxDOT budget more due to extra expenses caused by an aging transportation system.

In the last five years, highway construction costs have increased 62 percent, Lippincott said. This can partially be attributed to the rising costs of materials used to build roads — concrete, steel and asphalt, a petroleum product — as well as rising engineering and right-of-way costs. Escalating gasoline prices also play a role.

All these elements created a “perfect storm, ” according to TxDOT’s Austin District Engineer Bob Daigh– and then the state department announced that somehow they had miscounted $1.1 billion.

“We accelerate the crashing of the bus with an unfortunate, honest mistake, where evidently monies were allocated to pay for both some projects that have been [already started], and also simultaneously allocated for some future builds,” Daigh said. “Wow, what an embarrassment. And it took a long time to find it.”

Toll 45 SE

• Start period: June 2007
• Completion period: Spring 2009
• Size: 7.4 miles long, 4 lanes, room for expansion
• Estimated cost: $139 million
• Funding: The Texas Department of Transportation is using the state’s Mobility Funding.
• Major connections: IH 35 at FM 1327 and Toll 130

Toll 45 SW

• Start period: 2009
• Completion period: NA
• Size: 4 tolled lanes, 2 access lanes (not yet designed)
• Estimated cost: $76 million
• Funding: In October, the Texas Department of Transportation agreed to fund the project with exclusively state dollars. Due to budget cuts, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is expected to take over the project. The project could be delayed in the transition.
• Major connections: Terminus of south MoPac

Toll 290 W/ Toll 71 W (The Y)

• Start period: 2010 (Toll 290)/2011 (Toll 71)
• Completion period: NA
• Size: 6 tolled lanes, 4-6 access lanes each (includes flyovers)
• Estimated cost: $278 million (Toll 290)/$133 million (Toll 71)
• Funding: Due to budget cuts, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is expected to take over the project. The project could be delayed in the transition.
• Major connections: Merges into Ben White Boulevard and the existing Hwy. 290 W and Hwy. 71 W

The controversy

While the Capital Area Metropolitan Organization and Texas Department of Transportation see the necessity for not only the three current toll projects, but possibly other similar highways some residents and organizations have strongly opposed the concept.

For the Oak Hill Y, many in the community, led by opposition group Fix 290, dislike that the project overlaps existing roadway, which was planned for two decades as a non-tolled road. The project is also large, has elevated as flyovers and covers environmentally sensitive areas including Williamson Creek. Fix 290 proposes a smaller, non-tolled parkway.

In 2006,Toll 45 SE was delayed by a lawsuit filed by the Save Our Springs Alliance. SOS’s concern was that Toll 45 SE would be eventually linked to Toll 45 SW, crossing the Barton Creek Watershed, to help create a loop around Austin. The loop has been planned for around 20 years, but has no funding or immediate plans for completion. After the lawsuit, the Federal Highway Administration approved a new environmental impact study brought about by the lawsuit, so a federal judge dismissed the case.

This portion of construction will be elevated lanes planned to reach 55 to 60 feet high.

Toll 290 W and Toll 71 W

Although known cohesively as the Y at Oak Hill, this intersection is actually two separate projects that will be linked together by bridges. The Toll 290 W portion is scheduled to begin in 2010, and the Toll 71 W project in 2011. Plans and design are subject to change.

The toll roads are designed to alleviate congestion in heavily trafficked areas. Here is how many new lanes will be added if the tolls are built.

Source: Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization

Toll 45 SE

Future toll projects

Although planned to begin within the next year if not delayed by funding cuts, Toll 45 SW is not yet designed. It will begin at the terminus of south MoPac, run east and end at FM 1626. It will probably have few exits to discourage development through an environmentally sensitive area.

Behind the tolls: Who plans and builds Central Texas highways

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization

• Purpose
  • To coordinate regional transportation planning with counties, cities, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro), the Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS), the Texas Department of Transportation and other transportation providers in the region.
  • To approve the use of federal transportation funds.
• Recent action
  • Included the Toll 45 SW and Oak Hill Y Toll projects in its Transportation Improvement Program last October.
• Jurisdiction
  • Williamson, Travis and Hays counties.
• History
  • First known as the “Austin Transportation Study,” CAMPO was designated in 1973 as the region’s metropolitan planning organization, mandated by the federal government to monitor and plan for expenditure of federal funding on urban transportation projects.
• Funding
  • Planning, staff, overhead, contracts, etc. are funded by the Federal Transit Administration and Federal Highway Administration with non-federal matches provided by the Texas Department of Transportation and other member jurisdictions. Projects that include the Long Range Plan and Transportation Improvement Program, receive primarily federal and state funding, but can also include local matches, Capital Metro sales tax and other local funding.
• Contact info
  • 505 Barton Springs Road, Ste. 700, 974-2275, www.campotexas.org

Texas Department of Transportation - Austin District

• Purpose
  • To plan, design, build, operate and maintain the transportation system with the help of local officials.
• Recent action
  • Built the Central Texas Turnpike in Travis and Williamson counties. It includes Toll 130 from Georgetown to Hwy. 71 with expansion under way, as well as Toll 45 North, which runs from Cedar Park to Pflugerville. TxDOT is also scaling back local budgets, which may change plans for future toll projects.
• Jurisdiction
  • Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Gillespie, Hays, Lee, Llano, Mason, Travis and Williamson counties
• History
  • The Texas Legislature established the Texas Department of Transportation in 1917 as the Texas Highway Department. Two years later, the Highway Commission creates eight divisions, now known as districts, which included the Austin district. As the state department gains more authority, it builds and maintains Texas’ major infrastructure. Around 2000, TxDOT began the first modern and state-initiated toll projects in Central Texas.
• Funding
  • Uses a mix of state and federal funding. Projects are funded through a variety of sources including grants, bonds and toll revenue.
• Contact info
  • 9725 S. IH 35, 282-2113, www.txdot.gov

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority

• Purpose
  • To provide regional solutions for congestion problems that will support economic vitality and quality of life in Central Texas.
• Recent action
  • Constructed and now operates the Toll 183A, which runs from Austin to Leander. Future projects include extending Toll 183A to the north.
• Jurisdiction
  • Williamson and Travis counties.
• History
  • The Texas Legislature created Regional Mobility Authorities to expedite mobility projects. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is the first RMA in the state and operates independently from the Texas Department of Transportation. It was formed in 2003 by Travis and Williamson counties. The Mobility Authority’s first project, Toll 183A, exceeded traffic and revenue projections. The Mobility Authority is participating in the market valuation process with TxDOT to take over and implement other Central Texas toll projects approved by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.
• Funding
  • Uses a mix of toll revenue bonds, government loans, toll equity grants, right-of-way donations and other funding sources.
• Contact info
  • 301 Congress Ave., Ste. 650, 996-9778, www.mobilityauthority.com