Fall 2015 635 East Update
By John Willis
Over the past two months 635 East has been discussed at a number of meetings in Garland. The North Central Texas Council of Governments (the CoG for short) hosted one at Garland’s Fire Administration building, and two at the Garland Police Station, while the city council held an off site work session (which unfortunately, being off site at the Hyatt in north Garland, was not recorded for broadcast on the city’s cable channel or the website).
It was important for the city council to come to a consensus about the locally preferred option for the lanes and other details. Multiple resolutions passed by the council state we prefer the same configuration, all the way from US 75 to IH 30. The final recommendation is for five main lanes in each direction, two express lanes in each direction (which might be tolled, but more on that later), and for Garland the most important consideration – continuous service roads.
The biggest problem with having a 5-2-2-5 for the entire length is the Oncor power line right-of-way between Centerville/Ferguson and La Prada. At the last meeting TxDOT representatives presented a solution that fits in that space, yet does not inflate the project cost.
The biggest problem in getting 635 East built, now that what it will look like is settled, is how to pay for a $1.5 billion project when there is still insufficient TxDOT funding, despite passage of Props 1 and 7, and the ending of diversions from the highway trust fund. This one project would use $1.5 billion of the $2.5 billion that Prop 7 is projected to provide annually. That would leave little for other needed projects statewide. Downtown Houston alone is looking at a $6 billion project on IH 45. Without additional funding allocated by the legislature there simply is not enough money to pay for these crucial mega projects in urban areas.
The CoG proposes tolling the express (or managed) lanes on 635 East from US 75 to Miller/Royal. Depending on whose numbers are used, that might generate anywhere from $300 million to $500 million over a varying number of decades, and provide some additional funding for the project. The CoG believes this is the only way to generate enough more money to pay for the project, but any tolling authority must finally come from the legislature, which because of constituent pushback due to all the tolled highways we have now, is not likely inclined to approve any more tolled projects anywhere in the state.
If approved in time, and if funding can be identified, 635 East could be under construction as soon as early 2018. We have another legislative session in 2017, giving legislators a chance to allocate much needed additional resources to providing for the myriad transportation needs across Texas. Tolling any part of 635 East might not be necessary. Let’s hope the legislature can sort this out. The process for the reconstruction of 635 East started nearly 30 years ago! Everyone agrees that it is past time to get our part of IH 635, the LBJ Freeway, done!
