2 weeks Ago
HOUSTON — The tolls you pay in Harris County fix more than just toll roads. State lawmakers want to limit Harris County’s ability to spend the surplus money from the Harris County Toll Road Authority on neighborhood streets, and sidewalks. The political fight could potentially derail important safety solutions across Harris County.
A resident of West Aldine says sidewalks are desperately needed in underserved areas. One project that could benefit from the HCTRA money is building sidewalks here in North Houston, where a child was hit by a truck. Resident Shirley Ronquillo, a community organizer remembers a difficult day.
“A couple years ago, a young man, Raul [Morales], was hit by a vehicle, and he fell face down into a ditch,” Ronquillo said. KHOU 11 spoke to Raul and his family days after the crash on West Gulf Bank Road near Airline. Since the crash, there’s been a push for safety changes at the spot where he was hit.
“There is advocacy behind the incident, the family requested sidewalks, the child requested sidewalks,” Ronquillo said. Funding for that project, and others like it across the city, are at risk. “Currently I have $80 million worth of projects for the city of Houston that if this bill were to go through, it’ll put those $80 million into jeopardy,” Pct.
2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia told KHOU. Garcia is concerned with a proposal to divert 30% of the Harris County Toll Road Authority’s surplus toll money, worth millions of dollars, to the city of Houston "for the cost of providing law enforcement and other emergency services" on toll roads, according to the bill. Two Harris County commissioners expressed opposition to the bill.
“It’s not a good cash grab to make, and it ultimately hurts what those mobility dollars were always intended for, and that is mobility projects that help these right-of-ways, help pedestrians, help bicyclists, but help the commuters,” Garcia said. "I respect the City of Houston's challenges, and Harris County has stepped up time and again, investing millions in City infrastructure and public safety. But I will not support any effort to take our local County funds and redirect them elsewhere," Pct.
4 Commissioner Lesley Briones told KHOU in a statement. The bill would also require the money allocated to each precinct based on the percentage of road miles owned, though commissioners want to split the money based on road miles and road conditions. It would also require an independent audit of the use of funds.
State Senator Paul Bettencourt wrote SB 2722 and says the surplus money should go to reimburse first responders, rather than projects, that aren't directly tied to the tollway. “This isn’t some phantom, let's shift the money from one pocket to the next, it turns out the city has substantial expenditures,” Sen. Bettencourt said.
“It’s not directed in the right way, it’s not being spent to cover city expenses, and there’s no audit at all." Commissioner Garcia tells KHOU 11 that there are strict accountability measures in place for how to use the money. There’s concern the bill could undermine the important safety solutions residents have been asking for all along.
“A lot of young families, they need the area to be safe. We just saw a vendor pass by and he’s navigating in and out of these driveways just to stay alive, this shouldn’t be this way,” Ronquillo said. For law enforcement responding to events on the toll road, Commissioner Garcia is happy to reimburse Houston PD for costs if they can show receipts.
He says the county hasn’t gotten them. Sen. Bettencourt tells KHOU that the Houston Fire Department testified on his bill, stating they spent $116 million over three years responding to accidents on tollways.
A companion bill in the Texas House will be heard before a committee meeting on Thursday. Mayor John Whitmire has previously expressed support for the bill..
