Over the past decade, San Antonio has boomed and traffic volumes have increased substantially.  At the same time, funding to build new roads has not been able to keep pace with growth, mostly due to the effect of inflation and dramatic increases in construction costs on state's static fuel tax, which has not been adjusted since 1991.  Additionally, improved fuel mileage, which means less taxes paid per mile driven, and diversions from the state's Highway Fund to pay for public education and other non-transportation expenses, have substantially reduced the amount of funding available for new highway construction.  Furthermore, Texas continues to be shortchanged by the federal government, receiving only about 9 cents back of every dime of the federal fuel tax revenues it collects, and in 2008 and 2009 the federal government twice rescinded previously allocated funding due to shortfalls in collections due to the Congessional failure to adjust their own static gas tax.  San Antonio had fared even worse, having gotten back only about 75% of its contributions during the '90s and early 2000s, although recent changes to funding formulas have improved that ratio substantially.  Still, a substantial backlog of needed projects remains from all those years of being shortchanged, population and traffic growth continues unabated across the state adding additional pressures on an already lagging system, and the funding issues still have not been resolved by the Legislature.

Therefore, to help expedite the construction of needed roadways, the state encouraged regional authorities to find local funding mechanisms.  To that end, Bexar County leaders in 2003 created the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (ARMA) to take a local leadership role in finding funding solutions for the San Antonio area.  Because there are few local funding options available, the primary focus has been on using tolls as the backing for bonds that would fund major projects. Using this financing method typically would allow many major projects to be built as many as 25 years ahead of tax-funded estimated schedules and ergo substantially cheaper.  (To their credit, ARMA has done a good job of identifying and using other funding sources for several projects, most notably the US 281/Loop 1604 interchange.  This has allowed that project to be built toll-free when it was originally planned to be a toll project.)

On this page:

• Proposed system
• Types of tollways
• Tolls and toll collection
• Schedule, status, and history
• Other sites of interest

Proposed system

In 2009, ARMA identified a number of feasible tollway projects in Bexar County.  An initial "Starter System" of about 20 miles was originally identified with additional segments of Loop 1604 subsequently added.  Several other future projects are currently being investigated by TxDOT.  The map below shows the proposed tollway locations in San Antonio as of the end of 2009.

STARTER SYSTEM

• US 281 North from 1604 to the Comal County line
• Loop 1604 from Military Dr. to I-10 East and its interchanges with SH 151, I-10 West, US 281 North, I-35 North, and I-10 East

FUTURE PROPOSED ADDITIONS

• I-35 from Loop 410 South to the Comal County line
• SH 151 from Loop 1604 to SH 211
• I-10 West from Loop 1604 to Boerne
• I-10 East from Loop 410 to SH 130 in Seguin
• Kelly Parkway and its interchanges with I-35 South and Loop 410

PREVIOUSLY PROPOSED SECTIONS
(These sections are no longer being considered for tolling.)

• SH 16 (Bandera Rd.) from Loop 410 to Loop 1604
• Wurzbach Parkway from Starcrest Dr. to Blanco Rd.
• Interchange at Wurzbach Parkway and US 281
• Southern half of US 281/Loop 1604 interchange

Types of tollways

Many people don't understand how a tollway functions or what it looks like.  Some folks simply think that it just means adding tolls to the existing roadway.  However, this is simply not accurate.  In all cases, toll road projects involve new lanes, and those lanes are always some form of an expressway.  Here are the different types of tollways considered for Bexar County:

• Tolled expressway mainlanes
  In this scenario, the mainlanes of the expressway, which would be new, would be tolled, while the access roads would remain toll-free.  Tolled mainlanes for Wurzbach Parkway between Blanco and Wetmore were studied but determined to be unfeasible.  Tolled expressway lanes for Bandera Rd. were removed from tollway plans by the MPO board in October 2009.  It is important to understand that in every case where this type of tollway is being developed, it is essentially the exact same proposal as a toll-free version of the project would be.  The only difference is that drivers who opt to use the new expressway lanes would pay a toll.  This is a more "traditional" type of tollway; an example in Texas is the Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8) in Houston or the new SH 130 tollway from Seguin to Georgetown.

Animation showing how toll expressway lanes could be added to an existing divided roadway,
such as on US 281.

• Tolled managed lanes
  On roads that already have toll-free expressway lanes, those existing lanes would remain toll-free, but new tolled express lanes known as "managed lanes" would be built in the median between the existing toll-free expressway lanes.  The existing lanes would likely have to be shifted outward a bit to provide sufficient room for the new lanes.  The new managed lanes would be separated from the toll-free lanes by barriers with limited entry and exit points to the toll-free lanes.  It might be possible for the managed lanes to also double as HOV and/or transit lanes, known as HOT (High Occupancy/Toll) lanes.  This type of tollway is currently proposed for US 281 and northwestern Loop 1604 and is also being investigated for I-35 and I-10.  This type of facility recently opened on I-10 West (Katy Freeway) in Houston.

Animation showing how tolled managed lanes could be added to a typical section of Loop 1604.
 

Conceptual rendering of tolled managed lanes along Loop 1604
(Courtesy: Alamo Regional Mobility Authority)

• Tolled elevated lanes
  A tollway would be built elevated over the existing free roadway.  This type of tollway was proposed for Bandera Rd., but studies showed that it would be unfeasible.  This was also one of the three options studied for US 281.
   
• Tolled interchange
  New direct-connect ramps between the tollway and an intersecting roadway would tolled.  Tolled interchanges are currently proposed for Loop 1604 at SH 151,  I-10 West, US 281 North,
  I-35 North and I-10 East, and at Kelly Parkway and I-35 South and Loop 410.  A tolled interchange at US 281 and Wurzbach Parkway was studied but determined to be unfeasible. 

The map below shows which type of tollway is proposed for each tollway segment.

Tolls & toll collection

In late 2007, the MPO approved proposed toll rates of 17 cents per mile and 57 cents per tolled interchange ramp for most passenger vehicles.  Larger vehicles (such as 18-wheelers) would pay 46 cents per mile and $1.15 per ramp.  (These were the planned 2009 rates and will almost certainly be reevaluated should any toll projects come to fruition.)  All tolls would be collected electronically; there would be no tollbooths.  Motorists using the tollways would be required to have an electronic transponder ("toll tag") and a corresponding account with TxTag, the state's toll tag agency.  These tags are mounted inside the windshield of the vehicle and contain an identifier code.  Electronic tag readers would be located at strategic locations along the toll system that would record the identifier codes of tags as they pass by.  The toll would then be charged to the account linked to the tag where it would be deducted from a pre-paid balance in the account.  Vehicles using the toll system without toll tags would be photographed and be billed by mail for the toll amount plus an additional collection fee.

The toll tag systems across the state are interconnected, so toll tags from any Texas toll agency can be used on any tollway in the state.

Schedule, status, and history

Initially, the plan was that TxDOT would build the Starter System beginning in late 2005, then transfer operational responsibility to ARMA when completed around 2009.  But in May 2005, Cintra-Zachary, the private consortium selected to build the first leg of the Trans-Texas Corridor, made an unsolicited bid to build and operate the San Antonio tollway starter system.  After review, TxDOT decided that the proposal had enough merit that it would seriously consider it, and in accordance with state law, accepted other private bids to build and operate the starter system.  According to media reports, the private bid would allow the project to be built faster and would allow TxDOT to reallocate the $600 million that it would have used to build the starter system to other projects.  After a bit of rancorous debate between TxDOT and ARMA, it was agreed that the private plans would be evaluated with local input. 

After word of the toll projects became public, a substantial amount of grassroots opposition, headed by the Texas Toll Party group that has also vehemently opposed Austin area toll projects, started to form.  They showed en masse at an MPO meeting in mid 2005 and managed to get the Loop 1604 West extension tabled, at least for the time being.  As you might imagine, these events added some uncertainty to the entire project.  However, TxDOT awarded the construction contract for the US 281 North tollway (Sonterra to Stone Oak) in September 2005 and preparation work for construction began in December 2005.  The opponents filed a lawsuit shortly thereafter challenging the project, arguing that it required a full (and costly) environmental impact statement (EIS), instead of the numerous environmental assessments (EA) that had been performed up to that time.  Federal law only requires an EIS to be performed if an EA finds significant impacts, which the EAs for 281 did not.  However, TxDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), who were both named in the suit, jointly agreed in January 2006 to suspend work on the 281 tollway project as well as a planned 281/Borgfeld overpass so that a comprehensive and definitive EA for the entire corridor could be done and a subsequent determination made of whether a full impact statement would need to be performed.

In early 2007, the new EA for 281 was released.  As with previous assessments, it found no substantial issues, a so-called "Finding of No Significant Impacts" (FONSI).  The FHWA approved the EA on August 14th 2007.  TxDOT announced plans to cancel the original overpass project at Borgfeld as ARMA indicated it was considering building the entire 281 tollway project from 1604 to Borgfeld as one project with construction possibly beginning in 2008.

ARMA also completed studies on the other possible toll projects on I-35 North, Bandera Road, and Wurzbach Parkway.  In early 2007, ARMA determined that the Wurzbach Pkwy. proposal was not feasible for tolling.  The tolling option for the Bandera Rd. project was dropped by the MPO board in October 2009.

TxDOT announced in mid-2006 that it was considering possible toll lanes along I-10 West from Loop 1604 to Boerne and I-10 East from Loop 410 to Seguin.  Those would be additional capacity lanes in the median; the existing lanes would remain toll-free.  Subsequent reports on the I-10 proposal limit the toll lanes from Loop 1604 to Leon Springs.

On June 11th, 2007, after a series of discussions with the Legislature, Governor Perry signed compromise legislation that put a two-year moratorium on the construction of privately financed toll roads.  The bill included a number of exceptions, mostly in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas, but the 281 and 1604 toll projects in San Antonio were not exempted.  On June 15th, ARMA voted to assume control of those projects with plans to fund the projects with bonds and begin construction in mid 2008. 

In late June 2007, TxDOT released the results of the EA for the Loop 1604 tollway and expansion and showed plans for the proposed improvements.  That EA also had a FONSI outcome.  However, with the threat of legal challenges looming, ARMA decided to move forward with a full EIS for Loop 1604.  That study is expected to be complete in early 2013.

In December 2007, the MPO approved the toll rates for the US 281 project.  ARMA announced that they would build the 281 project in two segments: Loop 1604 to Marshall Rd. and Marshall Rd. to the Comal county line.  Construction on the first segment, from Loop 1604 to Marshall, was expected to start in mid 2008 with completion in late 2010.  The second segment was expected to be completed in 2012.

For more information on the plans for US 281 north of 1604, see the US 281 North tollway project page.

For more information on the plans for Loop 1604, see the Loop 1604 tollway project page.

Other sites of interest

	Alamo Regional Mobility Authority http://www.alamorma.org
	The 4-1-1 on 281 http://www.411on281.com
	More for Loop 1604 http://www.morefor1604.com/