| Trinity Toll Road Campaign Getting Ugly |
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| by Sam Merten | Tue, Aug 28, 2007, 02:06 PM |
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With the Nov. 6 vote approaching, proponents of the Trinity toll road are realizing they lack any corroboration of the claims they’ve been making for months that funding for the Trinity River Project will fall apart if the toll road is taken out of It’s not as if they haven’t tried, but no one was willing to back them up. With far more political firepower than Angela Hunt and TrinityVote, Mayor Leppert, Laura Miller, Ron Kirk, Craig Holcomb and others have finally found people willing to help them get their toll road. In a letter sent to Mayor Leppert and the City Council, "Should the voters decide that a reliever route will not be a part of the Trinity Corridor project, we will have no choice but to insist that our $6,000,000 contribution be returned," the letter states. The problem with this statement is the commissioners are either unaware or misrepresenting what will be voted on. Citizens won’t be deciding if a reliever route will be part of the Trinity Project, they will be voting to keep the route out of the levees unless it meets the original specifications that outlined the road as a low-speed parkway. In the court order from July 2002, it is clear the funding depends on the development of a reliever route, but there is nothing in the document specifying where the route would need to be located. According to the order, funds will be transferred after “Approval by the City Council of a Locally Preferred Alternative for the continued development of a Trinity Corridor reliever route that, through its geometrics and design characteristics, will accommodate not less than 45 percent of the 2020 travel demand through the corridor, calculated on both a peak hour and daily basis, as defined in the MTIS Study prepared by TxDOT and approved in 1998.” There is nothing saying the road must be inside the levees. In a letter to the commissioners, Hunt explained the vote in November does not prohibit a reliever route from being constructed in another location. “A reliever route can be constructed outside the levees which accommodates such traffic, as set forth in the North Texas Tollway Authority’s DEIS on the Trinity toll road,” the letter states. This latest development is disappointing because it shows the ability of Leppert and the Save the Trinity gang to put the political squeeze on people to get what they want. Another example of this is the TxDOT fiasco. On Aug. 6, Hunt spoke with Tim Nesbitt, project manager for TxDOT. Hunt was looking to get some answers about how the removal of the toll road from the levees would impact the “I wrote to Nesbitt to get answers in writing before getting stomped on by the powers that be,” Hunt told me. “We [TrinityVote] already had a lot of the answers to the questions I was asking, but I was looking to get some quotes.” Nesbitt responded to four questions submitted by Hunt in detail. She sent him another 14 questions regarding Project Pegasus and funding tied to the toll road. “As you might imagine, it is difficult to get objective facts on this issue because so many parties involved have a dog in the hunt,” Hunt wrote. “Since TxDOT really doesn't have a vested interest here, it is very helpful to get facts from an objective source.” Nesbitt responded by suggesting a meeting with TxDOT, NTTA and the NCTCOG, telling Hunt to contact him to coordinate a meeting time and location. “In the interest of all-inclusively reviewing the multiple, coordinated (project) solutions proposed by the region for the Dallas CBD, I suggest convening a meeting to clearly dispense the project facts, as well as address past misinformation that has arisen on each project,” Nesbitt wrote. “This meeting could entail graphic exhibits which are otherwise difficult to prose (interpret) by simple email.” Then Patrick Williams of the Observer inadvertently derailed any such meeting when he made a call to TxDOT to get some answers of his own. He was given the email communication between Hunt and Nesbitt and posted it on Williams, who said in his post that Hunt “both rocks and rules,” clearly could not foresee what would happen after his post. He got his hands on public information and printed it, which I have no problem with. However, once Williams’ story was posted, Nesbitt clammed up. “My boss told me I can’t talk to you anymore,” Nesbitt said, according to Hunt. Hunt then got a hold of Nesbitt’s boss, Bill Hale, who is the district engineer for the Dallas District of TxDOT. She said Hale was upset about the information hitting the Web. “I explained to him that it was his people who released the information,” Hunt said. “I told him if he wanted to be mad at anyone, it should be the people at TxDOT who released the emails.” Why Hale would be upset that the emails were public knowledge is a mystery to me as TxDOT should have nothing to hide. What the heck is going on when a council member can’t get vital information regarding an important public issue? Hunt has burned unnecessary time and energy getting documents and information that should be easily accessible not only to the public at large, but certainly a sitting council member. Those backing the toll road have the big political guns behind them and there is no question bullets are being fired. Pressure is being applied to the commissioners and TxDOT. Even Pete Sessions is making threats about funding. The one behind this may never be exposed, but I hope it’s not Mayor Leppert. If Leppert is using his power to influence people to either mislead the public about the toll road or keep information from the public, maybe Hunt can get a referendum going for a revote on Leppert too.
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Comments (12)
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written by Linda , August 28, 2007 Dallas taxpayers have been told and promised time and time again that we wouldn’t have to cough up any more money for the Trinity River Corridor Project than the some $246 million that was approved back in 1998. So, where is this $6 million coming from that the County wants to chip in for a new bridge, if not in large part from Dallas city taxpayers?
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written by Pete , August 28, 2007 I attended Councilman Carraway's budget townhall meeting last night and he ended by talking about the Trinity toll road referendum. He said something I had not heard before. He said City Manager Mary Suhm took him on a tour of where the proposed road is supposed to be built and he said it was going to an elevated road "12 feet above the levees."
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written by Nathan , August 29, 2007 Sam, it should be noted that the County is also adding a new jail tower over at Lew Sterrett. How much does this new tower cost? Will it house as many inmates as the Kays facility which will be torn down for the expressway extension? By the looks of the new tower it is going to cost tax payer more than 6 million dollars.
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written by HSH , August 29, 2007 Carraway was obviously mistaken or misspoke. Michael, you need to clera him up. The City (according to Rebecca Dugger, head of the Trinity Project) does not yet have an accurate representative schematic of where the tollroad is proposed to be located in relation to the levees or the river channel; how it will approach the river from the north; how it will go under the bridges and at what height; and how it will it come out of the river channel and head off to 175. In effect, they have absolutely no idea as of yet what this proposed tollroad will actually look like. This is just another part of the huge misinformation campaign on the part of the City, Leppert, et al. At what point can we question the City Manager's and City Staff's actions in lobbying for this tollroad by supplying misinformation, confusion, and outright lies? Isn't the City Staff's role to be an honest broker? When did they become and how to do they become the free operational arm of the misinformation campaign?
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written by David , August 29, 2007 Simple fact: None of the outside funding for bridges, Project Pegasus, etc, is contingent on whether we allow a toll road to be built inside the levees. It's only tied to there being a reliever route of some sort. Doesn't matter where. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.
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written by tom in dallas , August 30, 2007 If the bridge goes over the river to the sporting goods store on Continental, does it not go over the proposed tollway which is on the eastern shore of the river?? Other than maybe an interchange, what does one have to do with the other? .
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written by john k. , August 31, 2007 It all has to do with planning, not visions. A bridge from Woodall Rogers to West Dallas that might cross over or go under the proposed toll road or connect with traffic moving from the bridge or West Dallas on to the proposed toll road. Sounds like another mix-master to me.
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written by Richie Sheridan , September 02, 2007 HERE'S SOME EXCERPTS FROM A LETTER I JUST SENT TO CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON'S OFFICE REQUESTING AN INDEPENDANT ALTERNATIVEBYPASS RELIEVER HIGHWAY ASSESSMENT _______________________________________ September 3, 2007 Mr. Rod Givens District Director Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson Thirtieth District Subject: A Call for an Independent Assessment of the Trinity River/Stemmons ByPass Reliever Highway Alternatives (“THE ANSWER” HAS BEEN KEPT FROM THE PEOPLE) AND, A LABOR DAY MESSAGE!!! Dear Mr. Givens, Rod, As you know, Dallas voters will decide on November 6 if there will be a SURFACE Tollway Highway built in the Trinity River flood zone. During my recent meeting with you, I presented some of the case against this design, put together by the TrinityVote group, as well as my own views on the subject. As I informed you, I am acting independently of the TrinityVote group, and am very well known in Dallas politics, and by the media. What will Dallas do if the proposed flood zone tollway-highway is voted down in November? Will Dallas residents be provided all the necessary information to make an informed vote in November? As you know, politics can be dirty, and all signs are that during the next 2 months there will be a lot of mud throwing...at least from one side. It is my view that today’s Democracy has degraded to the situation that with the low voter turnout, and enough money, and big enough lies, the people can be caused to vote on something that they wouldn’t have if they were told the truth. There are plenty examples of this at the local, state, and national levels. Here locally, the “Save The Trinity” PAC is a perfect example. What environmental group would believe that “Save The Trinity” means building a 6 lane tollway-highway in the planned park? This title, “Save The Trinity”, is not just a misnomer, but an outright lie to mislead the voters in November. The November election isn't just about a park. It's about WE THE PEOPLE vs. THE MONIED ELITE, it's about the 80% of us, THE TRUE WORKERS, whose sweat off our brows makes everything work, whose sweat off our brows further enriches the monied elite, while WE THE PEOPLE are getting less and less, suffering more and more. There are more and more reports about the growing separation between the wealthy and the middle class, between the wealthy and the poor under Republican administrations. The Trinity River Park represents the microcosm of the macrocosm of this national issue. And yes, the November election is also about racism, about the racism that still exists in Dallas, and Rep. Johnson is well aware of this. Dallas is a 65% minority city. If Dallas was primarily a white city, a white majority wouldn’t stand for the current plan, and we would see a park developed with people in it, a true New York Central Park, instead of the illusion, no-people billboard park which the Monied Interests/Developers are lying to us about. It is very revealing to find out that there is no access road/parkway to take the people around to the various recreational facilities in the planned Trinity River park. Why? Because the “Save The Trinity” group, and their Elite backers have defined a Trinity River Park recreational facility as something to look at and not use, not to interact with like soccor fields, softball fields, football fields, frisbee golf, swimming facilities, etc, etc. Calling the proposed Trinity River Park bigger and better than New York’s Central Park is one of the biggest lies perpertrated on the citizens of any city in our Nation. This letter calls for a independant assessment of the alternatives to the current Dallas City Council and Mayor Leppert’s Trinity Park/Flood Zone Tollway-Highway plan BEFORE THE NOVEMBER ELECTION. The assessment must be performed by a group outside of Texas, with no financial interests in the project. I can think of no other person to head up such a group than MIT Professor Joseph Sussman, with assistance from the Mass. Turnpike Authority. Professor Sussman, and members of the MTA have significant experience in the environmental blight caused by downtown highway systems, and the effectiveness of downtown highway tunnels since THEY WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN THE PLANNING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION OF BOSTON'S BIG DIG PROJECT. As you may know, a lot of federal money went into the construction of the Big Dig. Sincerely, Richie Sheridan cc. Mayor Tom Leppert Dallas City Council Dallas County Commissioners Local State Senators and Representives The Media, Local and National
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written by Sal "The Muckraker" Costello , September 03, 2007 Elected officials who threaten CAN'T Lead! They are all crooks, eager to benefit from toll tax slush funds.
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written by Richie Sheridan , September 09, 2007 I filed a request for a RICO TRINITY RIVER INVESTIGATION WITH DALLAS COUNTY/DISTRICT ATTORNEY CRAIG WATKINS THIS PAST FRIDAY. HERE'S SOME EXCERPTS FROM THE 2 PAGE LETTER: Who owns multiple properties in the Levee St. area, and near the planned Ostentaceous Oaklawn, near the artistic Calatrava/Hunt bridge. Ed Oakley!!! Attachment A shows 5 properties now owned by former city council member Ed Oakley. I believe Jim Schutze, former Dallas Mayoral Candidates Darrell Jordan, and Sam Coats at least (there may be others) have publically questioned the conflict-of-interests of Oakley owning a few parcels of land in this skyrocketing land value area, and being the former City Council Chair of the Trinity Corridor. Conflict of interests? Heck, let's start callin' it for what it is increasingly looking like... A POSSIBLE RICO CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPECIAL INTERESTS TO LINE THE POCKETS OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPECIAL INTERESTS. Obviously, Mr. Oakley hasn’t acted alone. He has been supported by a Special Interest group. Who is this “Special Interest” group? Take a look at the list of those contributing to the "Save the Trinity" group. It's the Who's Who of the Dallas Elite. And then there's former Mayors Kirk and Miller, current Mayor Leppert, and much of the seated Dallas City Council, and the former City Council, the Dallas Planning Commission, and the list goes on. And what a misnomer: “Save the Trinity” for who? Obviously for the monied elite, for the Special Interest group! I am calling for an immediate investigation into a possible Trinity River Rico Criminal Conspiracy involving the highest echelon of Dallas Public and Private Special Interests...the collusion of some of Dallas monied elite, government officials, and some media outlets….like the Dallas Morning News. In this alledged Rico conspiracy, public tax money, and public officials have been used to create a situation to enrich a Special Interest Group. The planned outcome is the following: 1. Hundreds of millions of tax money “into the pockets” of the Special Interests. 2. Billions in revenue from the planned New Eliteville development to the Special Interests. 3. An exclusive Trinity River Park which will exclude the Dallas minority working class, whose taxes paid for the park. The planned Trinity River Park, being called Dallas "New York's Central Park", will be a picture postcard for the new Eliteville...look but don't touch, look but don't go in there. Calling the Trinity River Park bigger and better then New York’s Central Park is the biggest lie to beperpertrated on the citizens of any city in our nation. Mr. Watkins, your office has also experienced the consequences of Special Interests, a group of people who get their power by victimizing the minority class, the Special Interests who get their wealth through a criminal criminal-justice-system that you are now reforming. The corruption of the Trinity River project is just another manifestion of Special Interest activities.
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written by J. McDowell , September 12, 2007 Say, does anyone kow anything about the chlordane and DDE contamination that prevents consumtion and posession of fish from the 7th st bridge in Ft. worth to the I-20 bridge in Dallas co.? If so,I'd love to hear from you. Write comment
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