Houston Chronicle - November 4, 2015
Dug Begley, Transportation Writer
It’s raining roads.
By huge margins, voters Tuesday seized on every opportunity they had to give local and state officials authority to fix ailing highways and county roads. These results, many said, reflect frustration with congestion and a willingness to authorize spending for transportation projects – as long as they don’t directly take more money from voters' pockets.
Remember: The local and state proposals will not raise anyone’s taxes or fees. In Harris and Montgomery counties -- where voters approved road bondpackages of $700 million and $280 million, respectively -- officials will borrow money and plan to pay for it via economic growth that comes with adding subdivisions and stores around those new, better roads.
Moreover, the spending is narrowly focused on roads rather than other transportation improvements. Tollways and transit projects were excluded, leaving advocates of public transit and compact development frustrated.
Read more: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/transportation/crossroads/article/Road-spending-popular-but-fleeting-6610081.php
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Dug Begley, Transportation Writer
It’s raining roads.
By huge margins, voters Tuesday seized on every opportunity they had to give local and state officials authority to fix ailing highways and county roads. These results, many said, reflect frustration with congestion and a willingness to authorize spending for transportation projects – as long as they don’t directly take more money from voters' pockets.
Remember: The local and state proposals will not raise anyone’s taxes or fees. In Harris and Montgomery counties -- where voters approved road bondpackages of $700 million and $280 million, respectively -- officials will borrow money and plan to pay for it via economic growth that comes with adding subdivisions and stores around those new, better roads.
Moreover, the spending is narrowly focused on roads rather than other transportation improvements. Tollways and transit projects were excluded, leaving advocates of public transit and compact development frustrated.
Read more: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/transportation/crossroads/article/Road-spending-popular-but-fleeting-6610081.php
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