Bringing jobs back to the Blacklands area

Making Hunt Co., particularly Greenville, a better place to do business is the kind of progress we need. Keeping our investments in Hunt Co. instead of sending them to Dallas Co. via a toll road is in the best interest of everyone in Hunt Co. and  Collin Co. Here in Hunt Co. our future prosperity is on the foundation of a waterpark, a improved YMCA, and a proposed toll road…..

We already know the supporters of the project selected statistics to support their position that we need one, but lets all ask these politicians, that say a tollroad being shoved through Collin and Hunt Co. is needed, exactly how is this private tollroad going to bring business to back to this area or improve your lives?

They seem to be the same ones that were here ( or the bureaucrats in Dallas ) that waved bye-bye to the businesses that all left the Blacklands area, and a tollroad will bring them back?

This comment from a long time area citizen sums it up best. Even if he is off by one or two companies, the point is valid and clear. Just look around the area and judge for yourself. The politicians we have been re electing with low voter turn out -have let us down.

Lets fix this when you go to vote this month, and at the next election cycle.

“I grew up in Greenville with the Class of ’62 . Moved to Plano/ Richardson area in ’65 for better job opportunities but still have friens and family there. . Since that time no fewer that 30 companies in Greenville have closed or moved . They included Walker-McDonald (oil field drilling bits) , Robin-Hood Flour , Holsome Bakery , Martin Welding and Mfg (bumper hitches & grill guards) Walker Muffler Plant , Rubbermaid , Lance (peanut snacks) ENSCO (transformer mfg), Henson-Kickernic (ladies wear), TEXAN movie theatre ,McNatt Cadillac-Olds, , Greenville Steel , Barnhardt Machine Works, Knox Grocery , Safeway’s, Woodie’s Supermarket and others………..It wasn’t because Greenville needed a TOLL ROAD ………. we had I30 , Hwy 67 , Hay 69 , Hwy 380 .”

Commentary on how NCTCOG came up with the numbers to justify the need for a tollway

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/10/private_tollway_texas_turnpike_nctcog.php
This recent article shows the huge differences in the numbers NCTCOG came up with compared to the numbers identified by the University of Texas, San Antonio to justify the need for a tollway from PGHWBT to I30 exit 89 ( FM 1570 ).
A recent Texas A&M survey reported that the only transportation method we the people thought was a bigger waste of taxpayers money than a toll road was bike trails.
Please contact your local representatives at all levels and tell them you do not want a toll road as a transportation solution and the no build option is the option desired for the Northeast Gateway Tollroad.
Make your voice heard, please check our Facebook page NOTOLLROAD/Facebook and TexasTURF.org for information to get your voice heard.

2 Tollroads nobody wants, except certain members of the RTC/ NCTCOG and they are trying to beat the clock before the newly elected represenatives change the agenda

www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/20141010-transportation-officials-delay-action-that-could-involve-txdot-in-trinity-toll-road.ece

With the political climate changing in Texas about the utility of toll roads and their value to solving our transportation needs, the RTC and NCTCOG are rushing to get these projects added to the agenda for approval as part of the amendment to the 2035 Mobility Plan or as part of the 2040 Mobility Plan. They know that the incoming elected politicians have the latest support of the public which is not to use toll roads as a solution and ensure that they spend our tax dollars specifically collected for transportation and ensure that they are not used for funding other pet projects. They know if these roads are not added in now, they wont be approved nearly as easily by the next group of elected officials that were elected based on the platform of ending the use of toll roads as a solution to our transportation needs.
Contact your local representatives and the NCTCOG http://nctcog.org/trans/corridor/blacklands.asp let them know how you feel about them adding in any new toll roads into our area and potentially putting the taxpayer yet again on the hook for paying for them if/when they fail to get the required private funding or when they go bankrupt.

Proposed Tollway threatens Equest Equestrian Therapy Center

This blog from the Dallas Observer highlights the frustrations and friction points of the tollway proposal. It has only had proposed routes without specifics for over 13+ months. Only in early September 2014 was anything that looked like a real route presented, and it had an entirely new name.
How could any real estate agent or owner or buyer know prior to 9/2014 what status a property was in unless you say that every property in the entire Blacklands Corridor Feasibility Study Area since 4/2013 was in a potential route for the tollway and every real estate agent should have known this and informed all potential buyers. If that’s the case, there’s a lot of real estate agents in trouble, and it seems a really beneficial equestrian therapy non profit business is caught dead in the path of this proposal for a privately owned tollroad.
(see link below).
The benefits of equestrian therapy are beyond reproach, this treatment helps disabled children and adults to recovering wounded warriors. If this surprises you, please read up on how it has been used for generations to treat people successfully when all other treatments have failed.
So on a big scale of life, we as a community need to choose which is more important to our community?
A new tollway or a non profit facility that treats disabled children, adults?
This example reaffirms the ongoing question in Texas-is any property you own yours?
What qualifies as due diligence with notice to the public?
What do we sacrifice to save 10-30 minutes to travel to Garland or Greenville? Or any route in Texas?
Do we make these sacrifices for a private company to build a tollroad?
Or do we use the tax dollars already collected properly to improve current roads?
We elected and empowered the people that will make this decision soon, make sure they know what you believe is most important in the big scheme of things.

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/10/private_wylie-to-greenville_toll_road_will_displace_disabled_children_on_horses.php

Resolutions passed by the Cities of Josephine, Fate, Wylie, Lavon and Nevada opposing the tollway

UPDATED! See the latest position of the affected cities and counties.

More and more local governments are passing resolutions opposing the proposed tollway. Please make your voice heard to your local government and encourage them to make a stand or explain to you why they support the tollway. Get them on the record, because this is an election issue for the next time they are up for our choice of who we want to represent us.
We will post copies of the individual resolutions as we get copies.
Resolution No.R-819 opposing the construction of the Blacklands Corridor Toll Way or the Northeast Gateway Toll Way.
FateResolution-R-819 Blackland Corridor

BLACKLANDS-NORTHEAST TOLL RESOLUTION 10-14 Nevada

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/plano/headlines/20141008-wylie-city-council-formally-opposing-northeast-gateway-tollway.ece

 

Public’s opinion unchanged on toll road

The citizens reaction to the latest proposed tollroad has been consistent since January 2013. Regardless of the proposed route, or the entire methodology being used to justify a new tollroad, not one single meeting nor the NCTCOG Feasibility Study has produced results that tell our represenatves that we believe any tollroad is a desired or practical solution to future transportation planning.

Please read these media reports on the current proposed tollroad and possible solutions to better use our tax dollars presented by one of the candidates for Lt. Governor.

http://www.heraldbanner.com/news/article_846aad0c-4928-11e4-8c06-a765f8174213.html?mode=jqm

http://ketr.org/post/dallas-media-roundup-northeast-gateway

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/09/24/van-de-putte-announces-water-transportation-plans/

Please contact your local, county and State representatives and please send your comments to the NCTCOG Feasibility Study Public Feedback link at http://nctcog.org/trans/corridor/blacklands.asp before close of business 10/2/2014.

If you need an assist to help start your thoughts, vist our notollroad/Facebook page or contact us at notollroad@gmail.com or go to http://www.texasturf.org

Stay informed, ask questions and don’t assume your representatives will be presenting your views and values unless you are engaged with them. Don’t spread rumors, go to the source and ask for the right information. Be part of your government.

Please contact your Special Utility District (SUD) or Municipal Utility District (MUD)

If you are a Special Utility District (SUD) or Municipal Utility District (MUD) customer, please start contacting them to voice your opposition to this toll road.
These districts can also pass resolutions opposing the toll road coming inside their territory.
This is especially important as it can protect people outside of city limits and ETJs.
Here is some contact information for a few:

East Fork SUD
Water Utility Company
1355 Troy Road
Wylie, Texas 75098
972-442-7572
M-F 8am-4pm

Caddo Basin SUD: webadmin@caddobasin.com or 903-527-3504
Cash SUD: 903-883-2695
Lavon SUD: lwsc@lavonsud.com or (972) 843-2101
Wylie Northeast SUD: cs@wylienortheastwater.com or (972) 442-2075
Copeville SUD: custserv@copevillewater.com or 972-853-4630

Comments from Terri Hall / Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom

About the RTC/NCTCOG plans and whether or not saying no to the toll road effects other planned improvements…

Short answer is ‘No.’

For those who may not know me or our work at TURF. We’ve been fighting toll roads all over Texas for a decade, starting with the Trans Texas Corridor. We’ve studied statutes, RTC plans, Transportation Commission Minute Orders, toll contracts, testified in the legislature for 4 sessions and worked to kill and pass hundreds of bills. You name it, we’ve studied it. I’ve debated think tanks nationally on this subject and the press uses me as a resource to explain to them the details of these plans/contracts. I’ve been called an expert by many.

Here’s why saying ‘no’ to the NE Gateway toll road won’t effect other improvements:

This confusion and concern by elected officials is fomented by bureaucrats like Michael Morris & TxDOT who manipulate our elected officials with threats. I’ve witnessed him and TxDOT do this for the last 10 years. Right now in San Antonio, TxDOT and our local transit board are threatening to yank funds from our highway if my senator keeps pushing for non-toll lanes. It’s called blackmail, folks. They do it quite openly. It’s why TxDOT and the RTC have so much power. They manipulate our politicians using fear and ignorance (since few of them know the rules, where the pots of money are, etc.). They know how desperate everyone is for road improvements, and everyone has to work with TxDOT at some point to get it done. They fear if they challenge TxDOT, they’ll face retribution (which they do try to do – but the law protects us against these intimidation tactics).

I could bury you with examples of what they do, but I want you to pass along to ANY of your elected officials this message: we got the law changed to ensure road funds DO NOT get yanked if a region decides against toll roads. Chairman Joe Pickett helped us do it between 2009-2011 for this very reason. He sat on his local MPO board (it’s the equivalent of your RTC) and got tired of TxDOT bullying everyone into toll roads by threatening to yank their funding for other projects.

The New TxDOT rule change (which is administrative law) took effect Jan 1, 2011 and can be found in this section:
Limits on the commission’s ability to allocate funds based on a region’s participation in toll projects – §16.156 (Texas Administrative Code Chapter 16, Subchapter D can be found here:
http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/readtac$ext.ViewTAC?tac_view=5&ti=43&pt=1&ch=16&sch=D&rl=Y

(a) Toll project conditions. Neither the commission nor the department may require that a toll project be included in a region’s transportation plan or program as a condition for the allocation of funds for the construction of projects in the region.

(b) Limitations on allocation decrease. Neither the commission nor the department may:

(1) revise a formula as provided in the unified transportation program under §16.105 of this chapter (relating to Unified Transportation Program (UTP)), or a successor program, in a manner that results in a decrease of an allocation to a district or metropolitan planning organization (MPO) because of:

(A) the failure of a region to include toll projects in a region’s transportation plan or program;

(2) take any other action that would reduce funding allocated to a district or MPO without the prior consent of the MPO because of:

(A) the failure of a region to include toll projects in a region’s transportation plan or program;

Source Note: The provisions of this §16.156 adopted to be effective January 1, 2011, 35 TexReg 8388

Bottom line is this: DO NOT back down, keep pushing. The fact that they’re already being threatened means you’re being effective and very soon will prevail in stopping this unwanted toll road by keeping it out of the RTC plan. It is absolutely true that the road cannot move forward unless it’s in an RTC/MPO plan. The one elected official who said they may word it to be all squishy and leave open the possibility of the road (being added) in the future, but don’t let that happen. If the need arises later, (they’ll) work to get it in the plan at a later date. Because as long as it’s in the RTC’s plan, it will happen, trust me. Plus, y’all need to know, since Perry is on his way out and we’ll have a new Governor soon (who’s campaigning on not increasing toll roads) and two new transportation commissioners come February, help is on the way. Do not allow these threats to make your elected officials get wobbly on us.

– Terri
____________
Terri Hall
Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom
http://www.texasturf.org

Area News articles on the NCTCOG proposed tollroad

There were 5 total NCTCOG public feedback meetings held over the last 13 months. There was not a single one that had any public support for any type of tollroad in the Blacklands Corridor. I challange everyone to look up the public records of all 5 meetings and read the feedback spoken and written in by letters or email.
These articles below aren’t cherry picked to support a point of view, they reflect what the people want. We all expect the NCTCOG and our elected representatives to support the people and not force another tollroad on the citizens of Texas. That’s what representatives do, they find a solution from the people, for the people, not their own echo chamber.

“About 1,300 people attended a Sept. 22 public meeting in Rockwall hosted by the North Central Texas Council of Governments Transportation Division. Almost all of those in attendance expressed opposition to a proposed toll road connecting Greenville with far northeast Dallas County.”
http://ketr.org/post/meeting-attendees-reject-northeast-gateway-toll-road

“It seems likely, though, that the NCTCOG has found both a need for the tollway and has agreed to let the Texas Turnpike Corp. be the one to build it. At a joint NCTCOG/Texas Turnpike meeting Monday, Morris and other agency staffers announced that they had finished their long-awaited study into the toll proposal, which they lumped in with a general study about the entire area they identified as the Blacklands Corridor. They presented their results in a packet of PowerPoint slides and said that Monday’s meeting would be the final government meeting on the topic.”
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/09/texas_turnpike_blackland_toll.php

“The survey of more than 5,000 Texans was conducted by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute in May to study how Texans get around and their views on transportation funding. Building more toll roads was, by far, the least supported strategy,” the report states. “The lack of support held true in both metropolitan areas and rural areas, as well as areas with and without toll roads.”
http://www.texastribune.org/2014/09/25/poll-few-texans-use-public-transportation-main-mod/

WFAA Channel 8 Editorial Comments about proposed Tollroad

Please watch this editorial.
Obviously with the citizens of Collin Co. being affected by the NCTCOG proposed toll road project, more media attention is being brought to bear to explain what is going on. We challange more media outlets to get involved so you can vote knowing what issues face Texas now and into the future.
It is about time the DFW TV media is finally discussing how in Texas your private land is yours until “progress” says its not, and you have very little to no recourse once the decision is made.
While it may not be in your backyard today, you should be very aware that in Texas you have the fewest rights in the nation that protect your private property from being taken in the name of “progress”. It’s sad when a “Progressive State” like California ensures that it’s citizens have more private property rights than a Texan.

http://www.wfaa.com/videos/opinion/2014/09/26/15055022/