Thoughts on Vote No! Campaign Flyer   10/9/7
David Tuthill

After looking and studying the mail brochure from the ?Save the Trinity? group (Pro Trinity River Toll Road here after referred to as ?Save the Toll Road?), I am trying to divine the contents and thereby judge the merits of their position -- much like the Ancient Egyptian god Osiris would judge a deceased person?s heart against the ?Feather of Truth?.  Acting in the role of Osiris, I have decided the heart is heavier than Maat (the concept of order, truth, regularity and justice?the ?Feather of Truth?) and have sent the offender to Ammut (a vicious doglike demon) to be devoured to end it?s existence never to see the ?Fields of Piece? (the ancient Egyptian concept of heaven) or the Trinity River.

As I opened the pro toll road flyer I received in the mail, it has two pictures of the Trinity River taken in 1990 showing it flooded to the levees.  It is probably the same look it had during last spring and early summer's rains.  I am, however, confused because the photos seem to re-enforce in my mind that the toll road should not be built inside the levees, as the road will be flooded when Dallas has heavy rains!

An additional point in the flyer on flood protection benefits from the toll road?s presence seems at odds with the concerns about the toll road location being prone to flooding inside the levees.  Despite reassurances by the ?Save the Toll Road? proponents that the toll road will not be flooded, I have yet to read of any firm response with concrete details on how flooding will be prevented or how the road will be engineered to prevent it being underwater or damaged when it floods, only vague reassurances.

Only an artist?s rendition of an idyllic 4 lane toll road, which when finished will need to be expanded to six or eight thereby prolonging construction costs, noise and traffic flow viability.  This is an attempt to put ?lipstick on this pig? (a term which refers to a process whereby a bad idea is disguised in appearance by it?s proponents to make it more palatable to the unaware).

The ?Save the Toll Road? group try to blend in the toll road issue, at the expense of the promised ballot initiative on the park, to a general nebulous ?Trinity River Project?. They further describe the Trinity Vote proponents who oppose a toll road in the Trinity floodway as ?a small but vocal group? of voting petition-signing citizens.  A small group of 80,000 signers that far exceed the number of voters that passed the original bond proposal back in 1998.

The ?Save the Toll Road? group raises the ugly specter of higher taxes if Trinity Vote prevails.  It raises the question if the city or county can or will control their never-ending lust for higher revenue and spending.  This year we will see higher property tax bills from the city and the county due to higher tax rates and the Appraisal District's 10% increase in property valuations.  Do they mean they will attempt to control their spending in the future if the toll road is built?  No, I doubt it.  Do they mean that if Dallas voters do not behave and do as the elected officials say, they will throw away any restraint that they might have and gouge us for even more taxes till they break our wallets?  Annual tax increases to fuel their boundless uncontrolled spending are local government?s standard operating procedure.

The ?Save the Toll Road? proponents warn that if the Trinity Toll Road in the park is defeated then that jeopardizes the other related Trinity Park projects.  I would think if these other projects failed it would result in lower taxes as the monies for these projects and taxpayer funding would not be needed.

Like a poor student who has not done their lesson correctly, the city would have to go back and try to do it right.  I cannot imagine proceeding with a bad plan (a toll road in the floodway subject to flooding) just because it is a finished plan.  I can imagine a subordinate worker (the city) who is told by their boss (the taxpayers) belly aching and crying every step of the way as they do as they have been told to do or lose their job.

The traffic volumes as justification of a toll road in the park seems to also be short-sighted.  The ?Save the Toll Road? folks state that if the toll road is not in the floodway traffic will be horrendous and the only alternative would be an expensive route down Industrial Boulevard, which would displace all those cherished businesses like bail bond offices, liquor stores etc.  This argument is their primary reason for the toll road
in the floodway.

I have spent time reflecting on this with a map of Dallas.  While I am not a transportation expert, it seems the section of I-35 (which the toll road would closely parallel) has the problem of too many other highways merging into each other in such a short stretch of roadway.  I-30, I-45, Woodall Rogers and 183).  I-35 and its interchanges are further hampered by the twisting nature of the roads themselves in this stretch. 

Perhaps this is just what is needed - a new toll road to add to the congestion.  Keep in mind, those who have to navigate any highway interchange will have observed that traffic at these convergences is always obstructed causing traffic jams on the main roads.  Look at the new High Five interchange for 635/LBJ and 75/Central congestion.  This is a new interchange.  I seriously doubt adding a toll road either in the Trinity River floodway or on Industrial Boulevard will relieve the traffic congestion but only make it worse.   The two roads, I-35 and the Trinty Toll Road, would be closer to each other than any other highway combination in the Dallas Area.

Finally, all the points including the pro toll road group's name ?Save the Trinity? is misleading.  Why don't they call themselves ?Save the Toll Road?, ?Save the Trinity Toll Road? or ?Save the Trinity River Developers? Special Interests Groups??  Either of those names more accurately describes their position.  Why do they paint recent pictures of a toll road in the river floodway that is much like the original picture of the Trinity Park back in 1998, pictures that seem to be misleading to the casual uninformed voter?

Their efforts remind me of a Dilbert comic where the pointy haired boss (our elected officials) is about to unload a ?dog of a project? onto Dilbert.  The boss mutters to himself ?I?d better put some lipstick on this pig? and tells Dilbert ?Behold the most exciting technical challenge since the dawn of the microprocessor! I must rub it on my body before I assign it to you?. Ooooh Ooooh.?  To which Dilbert responds. ?I?ll need tongs?.

The citizens of Dallas will need tongs to touch this toll road!


David W. Tuthill