July 13, 2004

 

Dear Citizen:

            I am writing in reply to correspondence received over the last few weeks regarding the CAMPO board decision on toll roads. The board majority approved that plan last night.

            I voted no and I write today to explain the reasons for my vote. I am sending this letter to everyone who contacted me about the issue, whether they were in favor, against or neutral.

            I also write today because many people could not get into the meeting. It was scheduled in a room far too small to accommodate the amount of people who attended, attendance that should have been easy to anticipate. There is a much larger auditorium nearby where CAMPO has met before.

            As I said last night at the meeting I think that some toll roads will be necessary for the transportation future of Central Texas. I could not vote for this plan, however, for a number of reasons.

            First, this is too massive a change to be done with just three months of consideration. It shifts almost every local highway to toll roads. It will affect everyone in this community and everyone who visits. There simply was not enough discussion in this community about an issue of such huge magnitude or enough time for consideration. It would be much better to both consider and implement a change of this magnitude gradually rather than in one sweeping and rushed vote.

Additionally, we are talking about $2.2 billion, an incredible sum of public money. There are not apparent or adequate safeguards in place for such a huge amount of funds.

With so much money involved the boondoggle potential is enormous. I remain deeply concerned that the finances have not been studied in enough detail. CAMPO members did not have the benefit of financial advisors on this project, except any consulted at their own entities.

Another fundamental problem for me is the amount of construction in the Barton Springs Zone. Barton Springs and Barton Creek are treasures that local citizens have sought for decades to protect—making their wishes known in community plans, elections and various other methods for at least 30 years.

What passed last night is contrary to those continual expressions of citizen will.

The approved plan would include years of construction in the Barton Springs Zone with accompanying pollution during construction and afterward. The incredible scenic beauty would also be further scarred, permanently. Of course there would also be congestion and travel delays accompanying the construction.

All of the above can also be said of plans for Loop 360 although that process was slowed somewhat by amendments. Loop 360 is planned to go from four lanes to eight lanes (two toll lanes in each direction and two free lanes in each direction).

The toll roads could include flyovers at MoPac and Highway 71, MoPac and Loop 360, and express toll lanes running from William Cannon to downtown. All are in the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, the source of Barton Springs.

Additionally the toll lanes to downtown would likely mean taking part of Austin’s Zilker Park, both to get the lanes through the park and to exit off of MoPac onto Barton Springs Road. The City of Austin could end up with no say in it or how this is done.

The part of 360 in the Barton Creek Watershed (from its southern terminus with Ben White to roughly the intersection with RM 2244) is not only in the heart of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, but also adjacent to the most used and (arguably) most beautiful areas of the Barton Creek Greenbelt (which was purchased over a number of years with tax funds from citizens of Austin).  That is Twin Falls and Sculpture Falls—where only this weekend hundreds of citizens of all ages, in particular children, were enjoying the swift flowing waters of Barton Creek.

I personally am willing to take a few more minutes driving in order to preserve these natural treasures that form a central part of the character of our region and provide enjoyment to people of all ages.

In fairness, some amendments were added last night to slow and improve the process regarding 360, although it was still designated as a “toll freeway 4,” which in real life means an eight lane road as described earlier, so the points made above still apply.

Also, there were amendments offered that would allow funds to be used to retrofit water quality protections in part of the Barton Springs Zone but those retrofits are not mandatory.

None of these, however, were binding enough or specific enough to outweigh my other deep concerns about the overall proposal.

One more disturbing aspect of the discussion last night was that representatives of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA, the entity proposing and overseeing the toll roads) could not, or would not, step forward to answer questions about whether the CTRMA has the power to condemn land in Zilker Park. That could happen as part of building toll lanes to downtown.

Zilker Park has been paid for over the years by City of Austin taxpayers and is regularly enjoyed by thousands of residents (Austin residents and thousands of others). Austin residents and Austin city government could end up with no say in land being taken from the park for toll lanes.

Yet RMA officials would not come forward to answer the question. In my view this lack of straight forwardness, and the refusal to answer questions in public, does not bode well for the future of this region or for that agency’s stewardship over such huge amounts of funds.

Also, the fact that something of this magnitude was not worked out in advance shows how huge issues can go unaddressed when an important issue is rushed to approval.

In summary I did not support the toll road plan voted on last night because I believe that:

· it was far too rushed for an issue of such magnitude;

· there are not adequate or apparent safeguards in place for the amount of public funds involved;

· and the plan threatens to cause environmental degradation and desecration of scenic beauty.

Now that the plan has passed I will do everything in my power to prevent those concerns from becoming reality. I hope that citizens will stay involved as well.

Sincerely,

 

Daryl Slusher

Austin City Council Member, Place 1