Is there a Harris County toll road increase or not?

(6/21/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- Harris County commissioners didn't give you a chance to voice your opinions before they voted to raise the rates on the toll way, but since hearing from you after their vote, at least one county commissioner is now saying it's not a done deal.

As we first told you Monday night, county leaders looked at raising the rates and yesterday they did by a quarter on all the toll-roads, except for the Westpark Toll Road where rates will double during the morning and afternoon commute.

Then we heard from you. Eight thousand of you read about it on our web site and many wrote in. Some called the increase "irresponsible and unfair". Another commuter said he has "a feeling something stinks" and another driver said it's "very Communistic."

And we're not the only ones hearing from upset motorists, the Harris County Commissioners are as well.

Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack was one of those who approved a private company's recommendation to increase toll road feed. It is a vote that he says must be understood in context.

"There's a lot more to it than this and the commissioner's court has not made a final decision," he told Eyewitness News.

Radack says there is a lot more analysis being done at the county level. He says there is much more work to be done before county commissioners decided just how much to increase tolls.

The recommendation approved yesterday increases fees by 25 cents on all county roads. It also hikes fees during morning and afternoon rush hours to $2.50.

It's a move daily West Park commuters find appalling.

"My frustration on a scale of one to 10," said commuter Patrick Maraman. "Probably a nine."

Radack says he's received several calls from constituents expressing similar frustrations. The goal of the plan is to control congestion on the toll roads. The thinking is that higher fees will force people to change their commuting habits.

Radack says commuters will ultimately have to decide for themselves if higher fees are worth driving any toll road. But before any plan is finalized, commissioners have to define many issues including what congestion actually is and when rush hour actually occurs during which increased fees should be implemented.

"Just because there is a recommendation from a company that supposedly knows what they are doing, that doesn't mean that is how it is necessarily going to be," Radack said.

County Commissioner Ed Emmet's office says the vote is a final one and the only thing left to decide is when it will be implemented.

The county commissioners hired a firm to study toll ways around Harris County before they voted to raise your toll rates. You can read that company's report here.

You can also post your comments to the toll road rate hike and you can also find the e-mail addresses for the Harris County commissioners. If you have a comment, you can e-mail them, too.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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