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Transportation board refocuses on county issues [Kilgore News Herald, Texas](Kilgore News Herald (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 18--The development of the so-called 'East Texas Hourglass' toll road remains a priority for NET RMA, but with limited time and very limited funding other local priorities are pushing it further down the list. The North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority's board of directors met in Longview this week, shifting focus to new, homegrown initiatives within its project area. "Our mission is to implement transportation solutions that will enhance the quality of life and economic development in our area. That has not changed," says Colleen Colby, the authority's Tylerbased chief of staff and communications manager. "We were very focused on Toll 49 previously. Toll 49 is built, but we're still moving forward with segment four, which is called the Longview relief ... At this point, because that is the only active segment that we're ready to move on at this very particular point in time, the question the board asked itself at this meeting is, 'What can we do going forward beyond this next piece?' "We're not just going to focus on toll roads, we're going to focus on what the counties say is their priority." The 19 members of the board represent 12 counties between them: Gregg, Bowie, Kaufman, Cherokee, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Smith, Titus, Upshur, Wood and Van Zandt. While the hourglass is still in development as an ongoing project for NET RMA -- a route that, when complete, would create new links throughout East Texas as it stretches through multiple counties (including a planned section near Liberty City and Kilgore) -- it's a massive, costly undertaking. Immediately, however, "We have $200,000 we can use for transportation projects," Colby explained, collected from toll revenue. "Now that we've got some money there, how are we going to spend it, how are we going to direct those additional funds? We're going to partner with the county judges, when they bring us projects, and see how we can help them." NET RMA's interim executive director, Everett Owen, has more than 50 years of engineering experience, she noted. The authority's two full-time staff members have technical expertise and the resources to connect counties with the Texas Department of Transportation and federal agencies to facility developments. "It's very unique to every project as to what type of help they might need." The key focus is partnership, Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt says, an absolutely necessity nowadays to see progress. "This whole scenario we've been working toward for years, simply because of the legislature's refusal to address the funding mechanism for transportation in the State of Texas," he explained. Hopefully, it will be dealt with in the next legislative session, but in the meantime (and for a long time), "TxDOT has barely got enough money to maintain roads much less build new ones." Meanwhile, counties' projects are languishing, awaiting funding. "It's going to be a joint effort. That's going to change the focus of NET RMA. It's just about the money and what the needs are for the State of Texas going forward. What they're projecting is that we've got to come up with some solid plans on how to deal with it." For example, Stoudt continued, recent local projects such as the expansion of State Hwy. 42 in Kilgore and the extension of George Richey Road in Longview represent the cooperative efforts of multiple entities: the municipalities, their economic development corporations, the county and TxDOT. "I see that continuing in a bigger manner with the counties joining forces to get projects done." One massive effort, he noted, is a developing Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone between the Dallas County Line and Harrison County's boundary, following the Interstate 20 corridor. In a TIRZ, affected entities would dedicate a portion of new tax revenues to developments within the zone, selffulfilling development. "Our section of I-20 has the highest death rate and the highest accident rate on the entire strip of I-20," Stoudt said. "That's a mechanism that all the counties are looking to do. If we're going to get anything done on I-20 it's going to be that kind of thinking, cause it's just so expensive. One county cannot do it alone, and the state is not going to do it alone." As priorities are set, Colby said, NET RMA awaits leads, ready to lend a hand. "We don't want to choose. That's not our business. Our business is to help whoever comes forward with a plan," she said. Allocating the toll revenues, "You can use small pieces to make larger things happen." ___ (c)2014 the Kilgore News Herald (Kilgore, Texas) Visit the Kilgore News Herald (Kilgore, Texas) at www.kilgorenewsherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |