Hang On to Your Wallet

TxDOT is planning on 33 miles of I35 having two lanes of toll roads in each direction starting in Round Rock at 1431 and continuing South to approximately the Hays County line. It will consist of 3 levels through Austin and the cost estimate is a cool $8.1Billion.

Read the entire fantasy plan here:Statesman

For starters, TxDOT is spending $20M on environmental studies to be completed by the end of 2019.

"TxDOT officials last week specifically indicated they are willing to devote more agency dollars to major projects in the state’s largest metropolitan areas, even if tolls are involved.

That would seem to be a shift from Gov. Greg Abbott’s stance, from his 2014 campaign and speeches since then, of addressing the state’s highway needs without raising taxes or imposing more tolls."

This flies in the face of many future predictions that the introduction of autonomous vehicles and ride sharing will reduce vehicular traffic. Some believe significant changes in transportation modes will occur by 2030, before such an expensive and ambitious project will likely be completed.

It is estimated that nationwide, new-vehicle annual unit sales will drop by 70% by 2030, to around 5.6 million vehicles versus the 18 million that will be sold in 2020. Rethink X

This will be a major battle in the Texas Legislature as there are many Texas against more toll roads.