“The North Central Texas Council of Governments is using its higher traffic predictions to justify the need for a rural toll road from Garland to Greenville.
Some of the predictions by NCTCOG are hundreds of percentage points are higher than the Texas Department of Transportation’s forecasts. NCTCOG’s estimates for traffic also dramatically outpace the state’s projected population growth for the four counties the Northeast Gateway would predominantly serve.
NCTCOG senior program manager Dan Lamers said his agency’s forecasting is more sophisticated than the methods TxDOT uses. He said it looks more at intra-regional driving patterns while the state focuses on travel between big cities because it has to cover the entire state.”

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/20140926-varied-traffic-estimates-cast-doubts-about-garland-greenville-toll-roads-need.ece

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/09/19/texas-leaders-say-more-toll-roads-way/

Does your representative at the local level and in Austin know how you feel about more toll roads?
Have they explained their position to you? Do you agree with them?
Contact all of your representatives, local, county and the NCTCOG and your State representatives that do support this policy and ask them to explain spefically why they support more toll roads. Then vote accordingly when they are up for re election.
You, the educated voter has the power to change the way you are governed. Make sure who you elect represents your views.

You NEED to watch this video of the 9/11/14 Regional Transportation Council regular monthly meeting.
Select ITEM 10-skip to the 7 minute mark, and listen carefully to everything that is said from that point forward. Here is the link:
http://nctcog.swagit.com/play/09112014-584
These politicians discuss what happened when 600-800+ people that attended the 9/4/14 meeting very upset having only recently being informed that their private property will have a toll road built on it or nearby, is maybe because we aren’t getting their perfectly planned message well, or possibly people are very upset and against the entire project!
The debate between the two people there is comical if it were not that after 4 meetings where hundreds have attended, not at any of the previous 4 meetings has a toll road proposal been publicly accepted or desired. They even recognize 600-800 people don’t show up to public meetings because they are happy with what’s going on!
Why they believe that at the 5th, and final required RTC public feedback meeting to an entirely new population now affected by an unwanted tollroad, would accept it.
Regardless, the RTC are boldly moving along as if the hundreds/thousands of people that are and have been showing up at the NCTCOG meetings are somehow for this toll way or the RTC could care less what we want. It’s even pointed out to the RTC members to be silent about the proposed tollway when asked by the public until after the 22d meeting,so to me and others it seems that the council is just checking the box with the “process” and not taking in the public input, they want to get that miracle 75,000+ cars and trucks to not use I30 or HWY 66 or HWY 380 but use the tollway.
Please listen for yourselves as the Blacklands/Northeast Gateway Project is presented as an “information item” with the intent to add it to the 2035 Mobility Plan – 2014 Amendment at the next RTC monthly meeting on October 9, 2014. Seems from this meeting, they are committed to this tollway and I’d bet they are more than ready to use your tax dollars to entice private investors (P3/CDA agreement yet again!).
Please attend the 9/22/14 NCTCOG Public Feedback meeting and tell them to listen-No Toll Road! Period!! No more P3’s/CDA’s!

https://www.change.org/p/north-central-texas-council-of-governments-i-strongly-oppose-the-proposed-blacklands-corridor-tollway-northeast-gateway-project

We just received this from NCTCOG.
The meeting to replace the meeting that was canceled in Lavon on 9/4/14 will be held at:

Monday, Sept. 22
6:30 pm
Rockwall Performing Arts Center
1201 T.L. Townsend Drive
Rockwall, Texas 75087

Note- everyone will be provided the opportunity to speak and/or leave written comments after the presentations by NCTCOG and TTC. There is no plan to prevent public feedback, it’s actually encouraged so have your statements prepared so you can use your time allotted to get all of your comments presented.

NCTCOG be posting to their social media now, and again, NCTCOG will send out formal notices by mail/e-mail starting tomorrow, but they wanted to get it out as soon as it was confirmed so the information gets out accurately.

Past performance is the best indicator of any future potential. Everyone that is interested in the latest tollway should take note of the issues SH130 is having.

TTC/Publicwerks is presenting their project as a 100% private funded tollway. However there are members of the NCTCOG that want to ensure this tollway is built by entering into a P3 relationship with TTC to encourage private investment. Please contact your representatives and the NCTCOG and state your opposition ( or support ) to entering into any new P3 project with providing any public money or entitlements such as non compete clauses to any private company.

http://www.txdot.gov/business/partnerships/current-cda/sh-130.html

Moody’s Investment Service today declared the southern half of the State Highway 130 toll road to be in ‘technical default,’ saying it rescheduled rather than made a June 30 payment on it’s $1.1 billion debt, Newsradio 1200 WOAI reports.

“By executing a waiver agreement, we understand that the project is not in legal default,” according to a Moody’s investor note. “However, Moody’s view is that the failure to meet the full payment that was originally scheduled for June 30, 2014 constitutes a default under Moody’s definition.”
http://www.texasturf.org/2012-06-01-03-09-30/latest-news/public-private-partnerships/1087-moodys-sh-130-toll-road-in-technical-default

SH 130 is a state-owned toll road being developed under public-private partnership with the SH 130 Concession Company. Under the agreement, the developer is designing, constructing, operating and maintaining the toll road over 50 years. There is a $1.3 billion private investment in this project which is failing to meet its payment obligations. This is yet another P3 project falling short of projected and advertised private funding support being sustainable. 

According to the Texas AG: https://www.oag.state.tx.us/agency/landowners_billofrights.pdf
I believe this is important information to know when folks are told they will be “compensated” for relocation.

Advice provided by a prominent lawyer in Dallas that deals exclusively with ED and relocation litigation strongly advises that no one accept a deal from the government or government entity representing the government without legal counsel.

There are so many unexpected costs with relocation and if you try to deal alone with the government or their agents, you will not be reimbursed what you deserve-remember it’s their job to get you relocated at the lowest cost possible and remain within the broadly written law that governs these activities.
Of note-the most anyone will be compensated for any relocation is no further than 50 miles from their condemned property. ( unless your lawyer and the government reach a separate agreement).

NortheastGateway_FactSheet

This fact sheet was provided by Neal Barker of the Texas Turnpike Commission.

Instead of rumors, here are the proposed routes that TTC have researched for your review so you can go to the meetings with the most accurate information.

Please note that at the bottom of page 1 is the timeline they are working under until they submit the final route for approval in 2015. The 9/4/2014 meeting in Lavon is public feedback meeting 1 with the last public hearing in early 2015, so please attend these public feedback meetings and send your feedback to NCTCOG and your representatives to have your voice heard. Please make sure you reference the new name, Northeast Gateway Project.

TTC also has their contact information on this factsheet if you want to ask for any information or schedule a meeting of your community to get more information directly from them.

Northeast Gate Map Lavon-Wylie portion

( Blog Note- This map was passed out to community members in the Wylie area, it was not provided by TTC to our blog).

http://starlocalmedia.com/rowlettlakeshoretimes/rowlett-city-council-further-discusses-northeast-gateway-toll-road/article_f39b1f10-2941-11e4-9797-0019bb2963f4.html

“Plans for the tollway would have the road cut between Community Park and the Garland landfill. The road is expected to be mostly four lanes, spanning 27 miles from PGBT to FM1570. An impact study of the proposed project showed some houses directly in the path of the road. While Public Werks does have the power of imminent domain, (Neal) Barker said the ability would only be used in extreme cases.

According to (Neal) Barker, there has only been one other private toll road in the state: the Camino Colombia Toll Road in Laredo. The Camino Colombia tollway opened in 2000, and by 2003 it was foreclosed due to lower-than-projected traffic counts and high costs, among other things.”

(Blog Note-The Camino Colombia tollway was foreclosed on late in 2003, and was purchased by its main creditor, the John Hancock Life Insurance Company, for the minimum $12 million, 1/6 of the construction value. The only other bidder was the Texas Department of Transportation at $11 million. The route was subsequently closed to all traffic until May 2004 when TxDOT purchased the route from John Hancock for a negotiated $20 million.).

The next public meeting is in Lavon at 6:00pm on Sept. 4 at the NeSmith Elementary School   801 Presidents Blvd. Lavon, Texas 75166.

Please attend in order to get the most up to date information and make your voice heard. If you can not attend, please use the big blue comments button on the Blacklands Corridor website http://nctcog.org/trans/corridor/blacklands.asp and your comments will be entered into the public records, just the same as if you had spoken at the meeting.