JBAG064 said:

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There is a proposed toll road that will be put either right next to my house or very close, the actual route to the best of my knowledge hasn't been finalized.

I think there are a scam and I don't want to live next to one plus this a rural area SW of Houston and its going to ruin everything. I know there is an option to move which I guess i'll probably have to end up doing but i'm not going down without a fight. Anyone been thru something like this before?

There is a bill sitting in the TX House, HB1589, proposing that these scams be voted on but who knows how long that will take. Our state rep has been contacted and told our opinion and others in our community have as well.

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Do you happen to live in Brazos Lakes?

HTownAg98 said:

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JBAG064 said:

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Aren't the taxes we pay enough to have roads provided?

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It's nowhere close. Growth has outpaced our gas tax receipts, and TxDOT is way, way behind on building roads that are needed.

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It would be a lot closer if it wasn't continually raided for non transportation needs.

Also doesn't help that EV's don't pay the tax to use and fund the roads like everybody else does on non toll roads. And they impart more wear and tear than an ICE vehicle of comparable size does too.

jt2hunt said:

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Why do you think it's outgrown the gas tax? Are you trying to imply that the revenue collected from gas tax over all of the years has only been used on road construction and was not able to keep up?

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I don't know what all the gas tax money gets used for. I do know what TxDOT's needs for road construction far outstrip what they have funds to build today. Right of way acquisition, except for a few projects, is basically on hold until September 1.

They had plenty of money to drop useless and inconvenient medians throughout Bryan/College Station.

Point of order on this, George Ranch did NOT own the land where Austin Point is going in.

George Ranch is selling land (a legal requirement due to their Foundation by-laws regarding income and monetary evaluation) to Johnson Development and has entered into a formal agreement with them for development purposes.

I live near Brazos Lakes, Fairchilds area.

HTownAg98 said:

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jt2hunt said:

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Why do you think it's outgrown the gas tax? Are you trying to imply that the revenue collected from gas tax over all of the years has only been used on road construction and was not able to keep up?

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I don't know what all the gas tax money gets used for. I do know what TxDOT's needs for road construction far outstrip what they have funds to build today. Right of way acquisition, except for a few projects, is basically on hold until September 1.

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My understanding is that in the 80s the money started going into the general fund and was used for anything and everything. Prior to that it had all been used for road construction. Texas used to have the best roads in the world.

OnlyForNow said:

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Point of order on this, George Ranch did NOT own the land where Austin Point is going in.

George Ranch is selling land (a legal requirement due to their Foundation by-laws regarding income and monetary evaluation) to Johnson Development and has entered into a formal agreement with them for development purposes.

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10-4, just assumed that was GR land. No biggie either way, it's land that is getting developed and will forever be a suburban jungle now instead of ranch or farmland.

JBAG064 said:

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I live near Brazos Lakes, Fairchilds area.

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We just sold in Brazos Lakes because of the threat of how close the toll road was gonna be. We were literally gonna see it from our living room through the front door.

One Louder said:

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They had plenty of money to drop useless and inconvenient medians throughout Bryan/College Station.

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They did this stupid AF crap in my town too. I absolutely hate it, as does everybody else and every business owner. They did it down Highway 6 as well. Absolutely zero sense behind it.

Now instead of a long, safe, easy middle turn lane you have to go past wherever you are needing to go, do a u-turn and hope you don't fall off the side of the pavement into the 3' deep hole made by 18 wheelers doing the same damn u-turn and time it all so you miss oncoming traffic.

Because that is obviously much safer for everybody. So dumb.

They've started eliminating these on roadways with heavy traffic because too often you have people from opposite directions trying to turn left at the same time. Head-on collisions aren't safe either.

JBAG064 said:

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There is a proposed toll road that will be put either right next to my house or very close, the actual route to the best of my knowledge hasn't been finalized.

I think there are a scam and I don't want to live next to one plus this a rural area SW of Houston and its going to ruin everything. I know there is an option to move which I guess i'll probably have to end up doing but i'm not going down without a fight. Anyone been thru something like this before?

There is a bill sitting in the TX House, HB1589, proposing that these scams be voted on but who knows how long that will take. Our state rep has been contacted and told our opinion and others in our community have as well.

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I am having some land taken by eminent domain for a road in Williamson County. It pays to hire a lawyer that does a lot of eminent domain work. They usually can negotiate twice what you are offered and only charge a percent of what they make you. And... they respond to all the certified letters the county will send you over a year or two, plus.

StandUpforAmerica said:

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The people who built 99 North of Houston were extremely shortsighted. They should have built it three lanes each way from the very beginning. Instead, it was too small from day one, and now they're paying way more than they needed to by coming back less then 10 years after the initial construction to work on the expansion.

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I believe your assumption that they were short-sighted is wrong; I believe it is intentional. Going all the way back to the 90s, I worked with someone whose wife was employed by the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA). One day sitting at a conference table before a meeting started, he told us that almost every week, some toll road authority would fly in to inspect and review the HCTRA operations. Contrary to what you may think, it wasn't because the HCTRA was stellar and outstanding, but because they had the reputation of being the worst-run TRA in the country, and the observers did not want to run their organization like HCTRA. After all the years of watching toll roads be completed with too few lanes to start and then having to be rebuilt wider with more lanes, watching them go from tokens to cash to only stickers, I have no doubt it is intentional.

Toll roads are not scams. Indeed, user fees are normally the best way for government to provide any service. Why should people that don't use a service have to pay for it?

I know it's annoying, but those letters are required by statute. In fact, I think you have to be given the Landowner's Bill of Rights at least three times (announcing the project, initial offer, and final offer).

JobSecurity said:

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StandUpforAmerica said:

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The people who built 99 North of Houston were extremely shortsighted. They should have built it three lanes each way from the very beginning. Instead, it was too small from day one, and now they're paying way more than they needed to by coming back less then 10 years after the initial construction to work on the expansion.

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At least they have the room to expand it. Westpark is paying for literal ****ing torture. Only 2 lanes each way with basically no shoulders so when there is an accident (daily) it's slower than walking. And it'll never be expanded

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West park they had to live with the existing ROW that they could buy from METRO.

I thought toll roads are a thing because large pension plans see utility investments as high investment grade opportunities with consistent ROIs. So in order to raise much of the capital to build roads, cities/states tap into pension funds and setup tolls to handle capital demands that are upfront.

Collin County has 4 major N/S and E/W roads... 121 (S. Rayburn), Dallas N. Toll, 190 (G. Bush), and IH-75... 3 of these are toll roads.

Why, in 2025 are these still toll roads?!

Is it because the entities that "run" them use the funds collected to pay for future expansion and what's left over is used for maintenance?

A section gets paid off then remove the tolls or implement a major reduction in the toll rates.

Enough of this b.s.

superaggie73 said:

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JBAG064 said:

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I live near Brazos Lakes, Fairchilds area.

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We just sold in Brazos Lakes because of the threat of how close the toll road was gonna be. We were literally gonna see it from our living room through the front door.

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Brazos Lakes repping on TA!

sushi94 said:

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Eminent Domain - the fight is useless.

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Au contraire.

techno-ag said:

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sushi94 said:

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Eminent Domain - the fight is useless.

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Au contraire.

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Real life Up gramps in action.

Waffledynamics said:

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Don't worry! The tolls will go away after it's paid off.

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Been hearing that about the DNT for 20 years. Funny how that never happens. Once a tollway, always a tollway.

Line Ate Member said:

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techno-ag said:

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sushi94 said:

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Eminent Domain - the fight is useless.

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Au contraire.

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Real life Up gramps in action.

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Used to have one of those in my neighborhood in California.
This survivor house is the only thing that isn't a parking garage or a medical building.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/c5ZvGzEZhnRcpDtF6

sushi94 said:

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Eminent Domain - the fight is useless.

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The fight for diminished value for the parts not taken is the key. The years long construction tearing up all of the rural county/city roads is a problem, along with the drainage affected. Never trust a TxDot engineer.

I highly recommend you reach out to Matt_The_Lawyer here on TA. I believe he has an expertise that can help you.

StandUpforAmerica said:

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The people who built 99 North of Houston were extremely shortsighted. They should have built it three lanes each way from the very beginning. Instead, it was too small from day one, and now they're paying way more than they needed to by coming back less then 10 years after the initial construction to work on the expansion.

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First time observing the construction of literally any urban highway in Texas?

schmellba99 said:

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Teslag said:

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CDUB98 said:

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Quote:

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I think there are a scam

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Every toll road is a scam.

hth

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I see this said a lot but why? I like them. You can pay to bypass the riff raff and get somewhere faster.

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I see you don't drive on toll roads in Houston.

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nor does he drive the DNT during rush hour.

Theres a lot of confusion over "roads" in general.

LOCAL roads are paid for by the jurisdiction you live in, cities or unincorporated county. These are the surface streets you use around neighborhoods and in the city. Paid by your local city/county tax.

STATE roads are usually higher volume and higher speed. Usually these are denoted as highways (such as HWay 6 in Houston).

Federal roads are the Interstate system. Usually have an "I" before them, I10, I45 etc...

Each pulls from a different revenue source and can get muddy when joint projects are being done in order to pool resources or to get work done sooner as the Feds will farm out work to state entities.

Toll Roads are another beast entirely. Usually private roads oaid for and financed by private groups but maintained after construction by local government such as HCTRA. A very common tactic is to refinance the debt which resets the payoff date, thus these roads can be toll roads forever. However. As interest rates rise, the justification of this becomes difficult.

Now for some fun facts, HCTRA has a "surplus" annually after M&O and CIP is taken into account. Local commissioners can only spend these funds on "mobilitiy" projects and that becomes a gray area. So a lot of sidewalks are being built that tie into the toll roads. It's a real stretch. Now the fun part is at the State, there's a bill in consideration that the City of Houston wants a chunk of the surplus where it will go into their general fund. Theres a lot of debate at commissioners court and animosity between the entire court and Whitmeyer.

The real question is if they're running a 300M surplus, they're overcharging on the tolls themselves. If the state passes the law I wouldn't be surprised if court lowers toll rates just to stick it to Houston.

99 was poorly designed all the way around.
No pun intended.

Say what you will, but it's kinda funny to see people move out to an area where they have to use toll roads and then complain about the fact they have to use toll roads.

I live in Arlington, work in Fort Worth, and rarely drive a toll road unless I just want to get somewhere faster.

I had a co-worker build a really nice home on some acreage off Boudreuax Road & 249 north of Tomball twenty years ago. Shortly thereafter they announced the Grand Parkway was going in just south of his property. Went to every hearing and signed every petition he could, rallied his neighbors, contacted state reps, etc., etc., etc.

The rest is history.

Resistance is futile.

cecil77 said:

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Toll roads are not scams. Indeed, user fees are normally the best way for government to provide any service. Why should people that don't use a service have to pay for it?

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OOOOHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Can we apply that to the rest of our taxes?

HTownAg98 said:

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They've started eliminating these on roadways with heavy traffic because too often you have people from opposite directions trying to turn left at the same time. Head-on collisions aren't safe either.

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Not around here. TXDOT is adding them as fast as they can. Along with the stupid wire or jersey barriers between divided highways.

ts5641 said:

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Waffledynamics said:

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Don't worry! The tolls will go away after it's paid off.

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Been hearing that about the DNT for 20 years. Funny how that never happens. Once a tollway, always a tollway.

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Midnight tonight the San Luis bridge toll ends. 40+ years after the bridge was paid for.

So they do end. Sometimes. Maybe.

I meant that they are eliminating the continuous center turn lanes.