The Road Ahead 

What’s going on with Texas highways and railroads today? When you ask that question in Austin, the answer is money.

The plain fact is—there is no money to build new roads. By 2008, all ‘gas tax’ money in Texas will pay only to maintain what we have. How did we get into this mess?

Since 1991, 38 cents of each gallon sold was supposed to go to roads—20 cents to the state, 18 cents to the Feds. Only problem is ‘no new taxers’ in Austin took road money each session to pay for other things.

Last session, another $44.4 million was diverted to pay for border security. Out of a 2008-09 biennial budget of $7.6 billion, $4.8 billion now goes to roads and $2.8 billion has been diverted to pay for schools, security, DPS, even the arts.

With growth in China and India, highway construction costs have increase by 73 percent since 2002, an inflation rate far higher than that for consumer goods. Suburbs near Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston are some of the fastest growing areas in the US. For years, the Border has faced significant challenges with both fast growth, low highway allocations and more trade.

Based on TXDOT estimates the ‘gap’ between money and mobility is $86 billion. That is, to build the roads we need to move people and product in the next ten years will cost $86 billion more that what’s in the budget today.

So what’s going to happen? There’s no free lunch—and no free roads. One option is pay for roads the old fashioned way—use a gas tax. Since tax bills must start in the House, that’s a non starter.  The price of gas has gone from $1.40 a gallon when George Bush was elected in 2000 to $2.95 a gallon today.  Last session the House voted to cut the gas tax by $700 million not raise it. With gas a nearly $3.00 a gallon, most lawmakers will not raise gas taxes.

The other option is borrow our way to mobility. But, as every homeowner knows, you have to pay the bank. Without more revenue for roads, the money will come from the General Fund, which already has demands from schools, CHIP and colleges.

Another option is reinvestment zones—take new tax revenues generated in areas around highways and build more. Last session, we passed such a bill—but the money is not nearly enough. And the final option—tolls. Pay as you go, and build what you need.

In El Paso, we’ve had tolls longer than any Texas city. They are called international bridges. If the choice is no bridge or a toll bridge, our community made that choice long ago.

To make Texas go, more of us need to talk honestly about the road ahead. Good roads and infrastructure are the keys to good jobs. If we want a better Texas, we need better roads.

Eliot Shapleigh