Texas

white cloud

(2,567 posts) Tue Sep 23, 2014, 10:56 PM Sep 2014

Private tollway near east Dallas draws ire from record crowd

September 23, 2014

The people have spoken and their will is clear - they do not want the proposed private Blacklands Tollway-Northeast Gateway corridor through Rockwall to Greenville in east Dallas. Last night, a record capacity crowd of nearly 1,500 showed up to get their opposition to the controversial toll project on the record. Landowners and concerned citizens voiced their opinions to the Texas Turnpike Corporation (TTC) and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) at a public meeting held in Rockwall that lasted until after midnight.

The initial public meeting took place on September 4 in Lavon, but the fire marshal shut it down due an overcapacity crowd. They planned on 250 and 500 showed up. The meeting was rescheduled for last night. So tripling the number of attendees in just a few weeks demonstrates that the public opposition to this private toll project is only gaining steam and showing no signs of petering out.

The overwhelming majority spoke in opposition, primarily because this private corporation can wield the power of eminent domain for its private toll road that company documents show is projected to net $78 million in annual profits by 2025. Yet the company claimed last night that it didn’t know how much profit the toll road was anticipated to make.

One attendee stood up and asked if anyone was for the project and not one person assented. When asked who opposed it, the room erupted with a unanimous, resounding ‘No!’ Neal Barker, the TTC spokesperson, could scarcely get through the formal presentation, particularly as the touchy subject of eminent domain came up. NCTCOG Executive Director Michael Morris tried to quiet the crowd and assure them their turn to speak was coming shortly.
morew

http://www.examiner.com/article/private-tollway-near-east-dallas-draws-ire-from-record-crowd?CID=examiner_alerts_article