Texas Tollways - Moratorium On Texas Tollways

Moratorium On Texas Tollways

Due to the enduring controversy over the future of Texas tollways, the state legislature overwhelmingly passed a moratorium on all new tollways in Texas in 2007. The moratorium effectively banned all new proposals for tollways for two years, until 2009. However, this moratorium was deemed the "Swiss cheese moratorium," as it had a multitude of exemptions placed in it. Specifically, the exemptions allowed almost all the projects in the North Texas/Dallas regions to go forward. The primary concern leading to the moratorium was that the state was hurting taxpayers in the long run by deviating from its tollway authority model and contracting out roads entirely to private companies. Many legislators saw this as problematic, as the primary function of these tollways would not be to serve the public but to serve as an instrument of profit for private corporations. These companies could raise tolls to whatever the market could bear with little or virtually no public input and the tolls would continue long after the construction costs were paid for.