Central Texas residents have finally realized that they lost the battle against toll roads. An obscure provision on the 2003 ballots allowed for Proposition 14, which allowed toll roads. Houston has thousands of roads and three toll roads. Austin has a handful of major roads, yet we have three toll roads as well.
The toll road controversy is that the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDot) is not only planning to toll existing roads, but Austin now has one of the highest toll road fees in the nation. Some fees are 75-cents while other are almost $1.50. With the highest property taxes in the state, Austin residents are going to start feeling the financial squeeze even more.
Questions arise because most of us still don't understand where profits from these expensive tolls will go. Since road fees are paid out of the gas tax, once the toll booths are paid for and maintained, who will see the profit? Are they paying for parks or schools? Are they going to give teachers much-needed raises? Most of us still can't answer these questions.
News stations KXAN and KVUE weren't as outspoken in their coverage of this story. They simply said today that the toll roads will be open this week, but didn't discuss the effect on the lower and middle-class families here. With fuel and housing costs on the rise, the families with less income will be most affected.
The University of Texas- Daily Texan covered the controversy in depth. Read it at Viewpoint: For whom the tolls toll - Daily Texan.
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