Taxpayers Pay EXTRA For Toll Road Shortfalls

Some of the latest news coming out of Austin, proposed toll road capital of Texas, is about the Phase 2 Toll Road Independent (Sham) Review. In the fall of 2005, the CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) Board responded to the public's outcry demanding an Independent Review of the Phase 2 toll roads by voting to create an Independent Review Board complete with an outside "objective" consultant. For some time, information about the membership of the review committee, the times, dates and locations of meetings and even the identity of the so-called "objective" consultant seemed to require a "Top Secret" clearance. However, this week on the 18th, the reasons for secrecy became painfully evident. As if one of the Co-Chairman of this panel being a proponent of house bill #3588 was not bad enough, it has now been discovered that the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority has hired an outfit called URS to provide data for the Independent Review. Among URS past debacle involvements are SR 91 in California and The Camino Colombia toll road in Laredo, TX. and just click on to see the taxpayers being desanguinated in Florida: http://www.sptimes.com/News/071600/State/Flawed_figures_leave_.shtml