New Toll Roads
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The construction of toll roads is really not new to Texas, and Dallas and Houston have had toll roads for many, many years. While most people think of non-toll roads as "free" roads, it's important to remember that every time you put gas in your car, part of the price per gallon you pay is a tax that goes to build and maintain highways.
Over the years, the gas tax has not increased, but traffic on Texas highways has – dramatically. That means the current gas tax revenue falls short of statewide transportation needs, making it no longer sufficient to handle the state's mobility challenges.
Our Commitment to Texans
In all the discussion about toll roads, it is important to remember two main points:
- We will never convert an existing road into a toll road unless local voters approve it
- There will always be a free, non-tolled alternative
While an existing road can be expanded to include tolled lanes, the original number of lanes will not be tolled, meaning this is not a conversion. It is an expansion of capacity paid for by tolling.
Additionally, drivers will still have a choice of which lanes to use. In cases where the department develops an entirely new footprint, such as SH 130 in Austin, there will not be non-tolled alternatives, since that corridor did not previously exist. However, again, this is a new choice, and not a reduction of free lanes.
Benefits of Toll Roads
A Choice to Go Faster
Drive in any major Texas city during morning or afternoon rush hour, and you know the situation: highways that look like parking lots. When it comes to roads, drivers need a choice to get them out of congestion and gridlock.
Pay as You Go
Highways in Texas have traditionally been funded with gas taxes. Since state and federal gas taxes no longer generate enough money to build and maintain the current system to appropriate capacity levels, tolls are another option that have the advantage of charging only those who use the roads.
More Roads, More Choices, More Time
The population in Texas continues to grow, and so is the demand for new and better roads. Tolls can supplement highway funds in the fight against congestion; with cash upfront, miles of toll roads can be finished faster than highways funded simply by gas taxes. Tolling also provides motorists more routes and more time-saving choices.
A Choice of Routes
New toll roads and express toll lanes are under construction or on the drawing board throughout Texas. Some highways are being built as toll roads from the start, and others are being expanded by adding new toll lanes to existing roads. Drivers will soon have the option of bypassing congestion by using Texas tollways. And drivers who prefer not to pay a toll will always have a non-tolled alternative.
Helping the Region
Toll roads will bring in revenues to help maintain existing highways and fund more transportation projects within the local area without additional taxes.
Sooner is Better than Later
Toll roads and toll lanes give drivers a much-needed option to get where they want to go. With tolling, we can begin to solve our traffic problems now, without motorists having to pay higher gas taxes.
Austin
SH 130 (map)
SH 45 North (map)
Loop 1 (map)
183A (map)
Dallas
SH 121 (map)
Dallas North Tollway
President George Bush Turnpike
Addison Airport Toll Tunnell
Mountain Creek Lake Bridge
Houston
Sam Houston Tollway
Westpark Tollway
Fort Bend Parkway
Hardy Toll Road
Tyler
