How we roll in Texas...

Courtesy of TURF -

More I-35 shenanigans...

One of our supporters who manned a table outside the I-35 workshop the week before Thanksgiving, was present the entire time and saw all of 4 ordinary citizens enter the meeting. When he asked one of the consultants how many people had attended, they said close to 30. When he inquired how that could be when he only saw 4 people enter, they said some folks had come around 4 PM to leave comments and go. He asked how that happened since the posted start time given to the general public wasn't until 5:30 PM, he was given double talk.

When it became clear that members of the San Antonio Mobility Coalition or SAMCo (made up of over 70 private contractors that do business with TxDOT) had been welcomed prior to the posted hours given to the general public, we submitted an Open Records request asking for the sign-in sheets and any correspondence sent to SAMCo about the I-35 meeting.

Records show a litany of government officials and road contractors attended and only a handful of ordinary citizens. Records also show that SAMCo members got a personal invitation in writing from TxDOT and the RMA on November 3, more than two weeks prior to the meetings, when the general public only received notice two days prior to the workshops. It explains why the road lobby showed up and the general public did not.

This is how TxDOT and toll entities rig the process by keeping the public in the dark and getting the road lobby to do their bidding -- show-up while they're still on the clock when they don't have to rub shoulders with those stingy taxpayers to leave pro-toll comments and get home at their regular time. The general public, by contrast, funds this whole operation with our hard-earned tax money, and we have to leave work early or come after hours on our OWN TIME and DIME taking time AWAY from our families to give input to corrupt public agencies that deliberately stack the deck against us.      

State law now requires those who do business with TxDOT or who work for firms that could profit from the road project are supposed to disclose this on their comment forms. From what we have pieced together from the public records of the meeting, they did NOT comply with the law.  

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Texas Freeway Problems

WHY do the Texas Highway problems sound about the same as the Texas Water problems?

No money to fix the freeways but money to build toll roads.

No money to fix flooding, but millions to build bridges over air.

We're quickly running out of water, but the gas industry doesn't seem to mind.

We can't fund our schools, but we can build toll roads from here to Kingdom Come...

TXDOT gave two whole days notice for the public meeting concerning the San Antonio toll roads.  That is after they reneged of funding in Denton County.  Keep up, or try to, with the many headed snake that used to be called the Trans Texas Corridor on TURF.

Remember, it's YOUR TURF and YOUR money.  Do something.  Anything.

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YOU pay

Over and over again.

Teri Hall and TURF spell it out for you, the Dallas Observer lays it out for you.

WHO's involved?  Oh yes, the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the Army Corp of Engineers, TXDOT and the Trinity River.  No, not Fort Worth, this time in Dallas.  YOU get the drift...and the shaft.

Notice how the cost escalates, as usual.

It's a total OUTRAGE to build this road 100% with federal and state tax money and then charge drivers a toll, a second tax, to use it! This is a tax grab, plain & simple.

But he didn't need to make much of a case; as Michael Morris, the head of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and TxDOT and city officials explained earlier this week, the Horseshoe Project is a slam-dunk. The $700 million is there, courtesy the state Legislature and myriad other funding sources that will pay for the bridges -- the other two Calatravas the city so desperately wants running over the Trinity River, for which there's $92 million in federal funds. (Pensock did say, at one point, that the project will more than likely cost closer to $800 million when it's wrapped in five years, fingers crossed.)

There are, of course, a few issues to deal with before the traffic jam, including finishing a design and getting a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, since, as Pensock said, the bridges go over the levees, which presents "a particularly sticky issue due to flooding.

"I don't know if we'll ever be able to truly solve congestion in Dallas." 

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THEY "found" some money...

Yeah, it's YOURS too.

Another $15 million, that will keep the Trinity River Vision afloat, for now.  They needed to do something, people are starting to ask questions and put 2 and 2 together.  Sometimes that adds up to a billion.  But that's ok, it's YOUR money.

Read along with us about the Trinity River Vision bridges and their funding in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The first of three new bridges connecting downtown Fort Worth to the planned Trinity Uptown project is on course to be under construction by next fall, after officials disclosed Thursday that they had found $15 million more in federal funds to pay for the project.

* They FOUND $15 million?  WHO lost it in the first place?

"It allows us to stay on budget. In the next few years, we can build these bridges before we build the lake," said U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth.

Granger, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and other dignitaries gathered Thursday at the Fort Worth Club to thank regional planners for setting aside $15 million in federal mobility funds for the new Henderson Street and North Main Street bridges. The money, approved last week by the Regional Transportation Council, will be combined with $23 million in federal funds previously arranged by Granger and $24.8 million in local funds, enough to ensure that the bridges can be built, they said.

* WHO are the "other dignitaries"?  WHO are the "regional planners"?  WHO is on the Regional Transportation Council?  If you guessed part of the North Central Texas Council of Governments, you were right on the money.

(Remember WHY TURF was created?)  You may notice on their website, the August meeting would not be recorded.  WHY?

Transportation construction is part of the initial focus of the Trinity Uptown project, a $909 million effort to convert the near north side of Fort Worth into a walkable neighborhood with dense residential areas, shops, museums and night life.

* Key word, dense.

The project would accomplish many goals that city officials have long touted -- flood control, economic development, ecological restoration, and increased recreation on the river and its banks.

* This has been touted as a lot of things, looks like the list is expanding.

Thursday's funding announcement is the latest example of how aggressively local leaders are working to start construction of the Trinity Uptown bridges.

Those figures, however, don't include land acquisition, relocation, cleanup and other costs that could push the total to $110 million, officials have said.

* This is the part in a commercial when they talk real fast at the end and tell you what all is NOT included.

The original plan was to use some of the state's voter-approved transportation bonds, but the Regional Transportation Council instead found $15 million available in federal surface transportation funds, Fort Worth Councilman Jungus Jordan said.

*  When it starts off with "the original plan was...but"  YOU know you're in for it.  Again, WHERE did they find this money?

The city is responsible for construction of the bridges. Partner agencies include the Tarrant Regional Water District and Tarrant County. Officials with the Texas Department of Transportation and Army Corps of Engineers were also on hand Thursday.

* The partners are WHO YOU thought they were.  They always are. 

There were some interesting comments on the article, too:

Is this the same Kay Granger that rails against the spending of taxpayer money on pork? The same Kay Granger that voted against the stimulus but gladly takes stimulus dollars for her pet projects and to benefit her special interest donors? The same Kay Granger that spends taxpayer money railing the President faithfully on every GOP talking point, but whose actions don't follow those words? Yeah. Same one. Go figure.

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Perry picks WHO?

>> Perry picks crony, Phil Wilson, as new TxDOT Exec Dir

Read Terri's article here.
 
>> Perry taps Ted Houghton to Chair Commission--The one who calls himself "the most arrogant commissioner of the most arrogant state agency in the history of the state of Texas"  

Read more here.

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What's wrong with Texas?

You wouldn't believe how many people google that phrase each day.

Most of us here at Lone Star are all lifelong Texans, the rest got here as quick as they could.  We love Texas  though sadly, these days, we can relate to WHY people would be asking that question.

Here's a few things just to get the ball rolling -

We have some of the worst air in the nation.  Instead of working with the EPA to correct it, some Texas politicians are fighting them claiming, "we'll lose jobs".  Uh, dead people don't need jobs. 

You want to drill next to homes, rivers, creeks, schools? No problem, make a donation to a  campaign, church, library or museum and it's yours.

We can't afford to give money to our schools.  Though we can apparently afford to give some of those air polluting friends of our politicians tax rebates.  That means WE are paying the refineries. Did we mention we can't afford to fund our schools?


We are in the top 5 in the nation for horrid traffic messes.  Mind you, we're building freeways all around, however they ain't free.  Most of those will be toll roads and we'll be paying our politicians friends in Spain to drive on them.

The Fort Worth Business Press once said, "Tarrant County may be the eminent domain capital ..." If you live here or own a business here, tread carefully as it could be taken by our politicians friends, such as the gas drillers, the Tarrant Regional Water District (or Trinity River Vision Authority) or even Jerry Jones. Don't forget TXDOT.

Our water supply is dwindling faster than you can frac a well.  Our plan?  Sue Oklahoma, again.  We've already lost several times, but you can't tell a Texan no...no matter how much it costs taxpayers.

And don't get us started on the "news" in Texas.  They've been bought and brought to you by you-know-who...

What's all this costing YOU?  More importantly, what is it going to cost YOUR kids?  Do something.  Anything.  YOUR kids will thank you.

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Oakhurst being runover

By TXDOT, the City of Fort Worth and the gas drillers.

Sounds like a bad joke, but it's true.  Just another day in paradise.

WHO is in charge??

Read about it in the Fort Worth Weekly.

Residents in the Oakhurst neighborhood feel like they’re living a scene out of Cool Hand Luke — “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” They say a disconnect between city officials, the Texas Department of Transportation, and Chesapeake Energy is causing the planned expansion of I-35 to encroach on their historic area just northeast of downtown.

The city approved a drilling permit at the northwest corner of I-35 and Northside Drive several years ago, and Chesapeake built its pad site in the path of the proposed expansion of that traffic-clogged highway. So TxDOT recently altered its longtanding plans, moving the project to the east (neighborhood) side of the freeway, to avoid 10 wellheads on the west side of I-35.

The reason the state agency is favoring the drillers over the neighborhood? Existence of the wells means that the cost of expanding the freeway on the west side may have vastly increased.

TxDOT project manager John Tillinghast said he didn’t know why city officials allowed Chesapeake to build wellheads in the highway’s path.

“We never were informed by the City of Fort Worth that this property owner wanted to develop the property,” he said. “We’ve never encountered this before.”

Oakhurst resident David Collyer said it’s just another example of the gas industry’s influence at city hall.

“The city is going to let Chesapeake have first rights, even if they have to run the highway closer to the neighborhood,” he said. “Chesapeake has got the city council in their back pocket.”

“That never came up,” Espino said. “It was my understanding that the highway would be widened away from the neighborhood. No one from city staff or TxDOT brought this up.”

“This is the reality of having drilling in your city and how it affects your land-use plans,” Bradbury said.

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Crooked Creeks

WHY would a fracing truck be backed up in the woods in Fort Worth?

 Oh right, there's a creek in those woods.

WHO all is involved with "clean" "safe" drilling in Fort Worth?

Think it's not happening here?  Check out the sites in YOUR neighborhood.  Lots of them seem to be awfully close to OUR waterways.

Ask WHY? 

And WHO is watching?

WHERE do those creeks flow?

Straight into the River of Denial. Just another Cowtown Connection.

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