Delegation visits toll sites in Texas

• By SCOTT DYER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Mar 7, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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DALLAS — Officials from this area’s toll authority said Thursday they were surprised to hear the proposed Baton Rouge loop is running into resistance from people who own land under consideration for the proposed $4-billion expressway.

Rick Herrington, deputy director of the North Texas Tollway Authority, told a contingent of Baton Rouge-area officials that most of the rights of way for his agency’s toll roads were donated by cities and counties because of the economic development benefits.

A recent study showed some $28 billion worth of development has been built within a mile of the authority’s 62 miles of toll roads, generating an estimated $560 million in property taxes each year.

Herrington said that in most cases, if a local government donates a right of way for a toll road, the authority will build frontage roads alongside the toll expressway to help stimulate commercial development.

As a result, much of the frontage roads along the authority’s Dallas North Tollway are so loaded with stores and restaurants that they have evolved into a sort of linear mall.

Some areas along the tollway have no frontage roads because of surrounding residential development; in those areas, sound barriers were installed.

Mayor-President Kip Holden said the main objective of the proposed Baton Rouge Loop is to relieve traffic congestion. But Holden said he’s excited about the prospect of resulting economic development that could expand the property tax base of not only cities and parishes in the Baton Rouge area, but also school systems and other taxing authorities.

Herrington also had another piece of advice for the Baton Rouge contingent: avoid accepting cash at toll booths.

The North Texas Tollway Authority is going to a system that will eliminate cash tolls by 2010 in favor of electronic toll tags that can be read at speeds of 60 miles an hour or higher.

Motorists who use the electronic toll tags pay a standard toll, while those who pay cash pay a 25 percent premium to help offset the costs of toll attendants and related collection costs.

Standard tolls for the Dallas system average about 10 cents per mile.

The toll tags can also be used to pay parking costs at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, as well as other venues that charge for parking, Herrington said.

The authority’s electronic toll tag system is backed up by a sophisticated camera system that takes pictures of license plates of scofflaws who don’t pay the tolls.