Other counties want Travis' help on bypass

Three Central Texas county judges headed north Tuesday to ask Travis County commissioners for help negotiating with the state over plans to buy land for Texas 130. The proposed 91-mile bypass, which would run from Seguin to Georgetown, is expected to cost more than $1.5 billion, and state transportation officials are asking the counties to pay the $389 million to buy the land for the highway. Travis County alone would be responsible for $179 million. County officials want the highway but say they want the state to share more of the cost.

"Everybody wants it, but they want the other guy to wind up paying for it," said Sam Biscoe, Travis County judge. State officials say the issue was settled years ago, when the counties agreed to pay the cost for a bypass highway. "We're doing our part, and we expect the counties to do the same. We need local support for this project," said Gaby Garcia, spokeswoman for the Transportation Department. The agreement, however, refers to MoKan, a since abandoned project from 1986, not to Texas 130, said Karen Sonleitner, Travis County commissioner. In the past, she said, counties have paid up to 10 percent of the costs, but never 100 percent, as the state is asking.

Until now the counties have taken their cases to the Transportation Department separately. Now it may be time to work together, they said. Caldwell County Judge H.D. Wright said that the $15 million the state wants from his county is three times more than his annual budget, a burden his constituents can't bear. "We're not against progress," said Wright, "but we are against bankruptcy."

The court plans to meet with the visiting commissioners again Aug. 13. One option they will discuss is forming a regional authority to administer tolls to help pay for the land purchases. On Tuesday, the commissioners also heard from a citizen's advisory committee formed to help assess the need and public support for road projects, including Texas 130. The committee's $238 million wish list for a fall bond election was triple the commissioners' $80 million guideline. The committee recommended $66 million for Texas 130, $32 million for Texas 45 and $138 million in local county road projects. The highway projects were considered separately by the committee in hopes that the state would provide some, if not all, the money. The advisory committee will have five public hearings before delivering its final recommendations to the commissioners Aug. 14. County officials, meanwhile, will determine the amount of debt the county can support and what the cost would be to taxpayers.