TxDOT to Purchase Houston Toll Road, Questions Remain About Total Cost
The agreement with BlueRidge to operate Highway 288 will end in October.
Last week, the Texas Transportation Commission voted to approve the purchase of toll road Highway 288 in Harris County for $1.7 billion.The toll road was constructed by BlueRidge Transportation Group and extends about 10 miles from Blodgett Street in Harris County southward, ending approximately at the county line between Harris and Brazoria Counties. According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), “The highway serves as an important thoroughfare into Houston and the primary express artery to the world’s largest medical complex, the Texas Medical Center.”
The original comprehensive development agreement gave TxDOT the right to terminate the agreement “if the department determines in its discretion that a termination is in the department’s best interest.”
TxDOT spokesperson Adam Hammons told The Texan this purchase is not part of a larger strategy to buy toll roads in the state, but is a one-time opportunity based on this specific concession agreement.
TxDOT notified BlueRidge of the termination, effective October 8, 2024.
Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) posted a letter to X with questions for TxDOT that he believes are important to understand about the buyout of Highway 288.
“How much will this cost taxpayers to pay for this existing highway, given that TXDOT plans to issue bonds at today’s rates to pay itself back for the purchase of the road?” Cain inquired.
To acquire the road, the commission created a corporation and expects that the buyout payment will be repaid with future toll revenue bonds, Hammons confirmed to The Texan. The toll revenue of Highway 288 users will be used to repay the bonds, he said.
“The creation of the corporation allows for the Commission to provide a loan to the corporation that can be paid back through the sale of bonds more quickly than through toll revenues alone,” Hammons said.
When asked about the total cost of the $1.7 billion buyout, including financing costs and interest, Hammons said it is “too soon for TxDOT to make specific public disclosures of debt at this time.”
Cain also inquired about whether tolls will continue to be assessed for use of the road.
Hammons confirmed that tolls will continue to be collected after the termination of the agreement, “focusing on SH 288’s needs and future transportation infrastructure within the region. Future decisions regarding tolling policies, pricing, and operations, will be made under the authority of the Texas Transportation Commission.”
He added that TxDOT anticipates reducing toll rates in the future, but said that “during the contractually required transition period,” tolling policies that require some of the toll rates to increase each year based on inflation data on January 1 will continue.
“It’s very disappointing that TXDOT is going to make a major policy decision that will force taxpayers to pay twice to drive on a road without coming to the legislature for guidance or approval,” Cain told The Texan.
“Using taxpayer dollars to buy a toll road and then charging those same taxpayers to drive on the same road is the equivalent of a double tax. In Texas, that dog won’t hunt. The people are taxed too much as it already is,” he added.
Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF) is opposed to all toll roads but favors the state buying toll roads and eliminating the tolls.
Hammons didn’t indicate any plan to end the tolls on Highway 288 in the future.
“While we don’t support issuing debt, we believe having the roads in public hands is better,” TURF founder and executive director Terri Hall told The Texan. She pointed out that the original agreement was made with BlueRidge Transportation Group, a subsidiary of the Spanish company ACS Infrastructure Development.
Hammons did not answer whether TxDOT has cash on hand to pay for the toll road without revenue bonds. He reiterated that TxDOT is providing a loan to the corporation that will be paid back by bonds issued by the corporation.Based on their wording, it appears that neither Proposition 7 nor Proposition 1 funds can be used to purchase a toll road.