ARLINGTON -- An extra $3 billion for roads and other transportation projects statewide was freed up when lawmakers agreed to let the Texas Department of Transportation sell more voter-approved Proposition 12 bonds -- but Fort Worth will likely see little of that money.
On Thursday, the Regional Transportation Council approved a list of projects that could be built with that money in the next couple of years. North Texas is expected to receive about $856 million in Proposition 12 bonds, which allow the state to sell bonds to pay for transportation projects and repay the money with debt payments from the general fund.But most of the projects will be on the Dallas side of the Metroplex, which raised the ire of Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley during the council meeting in Arlington."The west will give up just about everything coming out of Prop 12," Whitley said during a somewhat testy exchange with Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins and other Dallas-area leaders.Projects to be fundedIn the Fort Worth area, an estimated $99 million will be available, possibly this year, after the state sells the bonds, the North Central Texas Council of Governments has calculated. The transportation council agreed to spend that money on a new Interstate 30/Walsh Ranch interchange; high-occupancy-vehicle lane improvements on I-30 in Arlington; Trinity River bridge improvements of up to $20 million for the Trinity Uptown project; and unidentified future expenses on ongoing freeway and toll projects, including the Southwest Parkway/Chisholm Trail Parkway, DFW Connector and North Tarrant Express.But the Dallas area is pegged to receive a whopping $757 million, which the council agreed to spend on U.S. 380 in Denton, U.S. 75 in Collin County, the I-30 and I-35E bridges over the Trinity River, and the I-345 bridge east of downtown.The issue of equity is a prickly one at the transportation council, but the group has a long-standing goal of spending 69 percent of transportation funds in the Dallas district -- Dallas, Denton and Collin counties -- and 31 percent in the Fort Worth district -- Tarrant, Johnson, Parker and Wise counties.That ratio was upset in recent years, when the Fort Worth area received big bucks for several long-delayed projects.For example, the DFW Connector nabbed $250 million in federal stimulus money, and the North Tarrant Express on Northeast Loop 820 and Texas 121/183 was pegged for $135 million in Proposition 14 money, another form of state bond debt repaid with gas tax proceeds.More to the eastLast month, when it became clear that the Legislature would allow the Transportation Department to issue an additional $3 billion in Proposition 12 funds, freeing up a possible $856 million for North Texas, the transportation council and its staff determined that it would only be fair to spend the lion's share on the eastern side."We had TxDOT put the money on some projects that upset our equity. We had to reconcile that," said council Chairman Ron Natinsky, a Dallas councilman.But Whitley argued that some of the Dallas-area funds could be spent in the west, on projects such as the proposed extension of the Texas 360 main lanes to Mansfield and beyond. Whitley proposed that the east-west ratio be based on a rolling four-year calculation rather than year to year, but his motion failed on a voice vote.The state's issuance of $3 billion in debt to build roads was the path of least resistance for the Legislature, which is under pressure to relieve congestion in fast-growing metro areas without raising taxes or fees.The Transportation Department is going deep into debt to finance construction, with about $1 billion of the state's roughly $8 billion annual budget already going to debt service.Texas has borrowed $11.9 billion, which, with interest and fees, will cost $21.1 billion to pay back over 30 years.Gordon Dickson, 817-390-7796Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
