BIKE: Toll Road Letter to CAMPO

[David Foster]

All,

Below is an open letter many groups and individuals will be releasing soon in an effort to persuade elected leaders on CAMPO to reverse the damaging toll road vote of a couple of weeks back.  If you wish to have your name or organization added to this list, please reply to me and I will forward your request along. Note that the names of all people who sign the letter will be known to the public as well as to the public officials listed below. Thanks,

David Foster


AN OPEN LETTER CALLING FOR RECONSIDERATION
OF THE JULY TOLL ROAD VOTE AT CAMPO

TO THE PUBLIC OFFICIALS WHO VOTED FOR TOLL ROADS:

State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos
State Senator Steve Ogden
State Representative Dwanna Dukes,
State Representative Dan Gattis
State Representative Mike Krusee
City of Austin Mayor Will Wynn
City of Round Rock Mayor Nyle Maxwell
Alliance of Cities Mayor Dwight Thompson
Austin Council Member Brewster McCracken
Austin Council Member Danny Thomas
Hays County Commissioner Bill Burnet
Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe
Travis County Commissioner Karen Sonleitner,
Williamson County Commissioner Greg Boatright
Capitol Metro Board Representative John Trevino
TxDOT District Engineer Bob Daigh

We believe the toll road plan you voted for in July is one of the most damaging public decisions for our area in decades.  We are publicly 
requesting that you reconsider your vote for the toll roads at the upcoming September CAMPO Board meeting.

There are many important reasons the toll road proposal does not deserve your support:

.The toll road plan will not reduce congestion, but instead force traffic onto nearby neighborhood streets.
.There is overwhelming opposition to tolling existing roads built using our tax dollars.
.Extending toll roads over our fragile aquifer will increase the damaging effects of pollution and sprawl.
.Widespread tolling of roads around Austin will be a barrier to doing business, especially for small local businesses.
.Tolls are a transportation tax that will increase the cost of living in our community.
.The toll plan contradicts Envision Central Texas, and turns over public planning decisions to the Regional Mobility Authority, with no 
accountability to voters.

The people of our community sent you a clear message that the toll road plan was unacceptable.  Nearly 6,000 people contacted you in opposition to 
the plan, and more are opposed every day.  Your vote ignored neighborhood associations, environmental groups and thousands of citizens all over the 
Austin area who asked you to vote against this poorly conceived special interest proposal.

Ignoring the overwhelming public opposition, serious policy issues, and unanswered questions concerning the toll road plan has undermined your 
credibility.  You were elected to represent the people of our community - and our community clearly does not want this plan.  Please reconsider your 
vote and instead take this opportunity to create a transportation system that solves our problems, instead of making them worse.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.bicycleaustin.info/private.cgi/forum-bicycleaustin.info/attachments/20040826/7d97fd1f/attachment.htm