DUNCANVILLE — Austin police, fire and emergency medical vehicles will have to pay tolls on Central Texas' three existing turnpikes unless they are pursuing a suspect or responding to an emergency, the Texas Transportation Commission decided today....

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/26/26texdot.html

We paid to build the roads--tax #1, pay continuing taxes with licenses and gas fees to maintain them--tax #2, now they're turning them over to private "authorities" that'll charge us tolls--tax #3, and on top of it all, the emergency personel we're taxed to pay for will have to pay tolls when they use the roads.

Excerpts from the 2003 Omnibus Transportation Bill (HB 3588), passed by the lobbyist-infested Texas legislature:

"The commission by order may convert a segment of the free state highway system to a turnpike project and transfer that segment to an authority, or may transfer an existing turnpike project that is part of the state highway system, whether previously tolled or not..."

"An authority may impose a toll for transit over an existing free road, street, or public highway transferred to the authority under this chapter."

"...an authority may not pay compensation for public real property, parkways, streets, highways, alleys, or reservations it takes..."

"An authority has full easements and rights-of-way through, across, under, and over any property owned by the state or any local government that are necessary or convenient to construct, acquire, or efficiently operate a transportation project or system..."

"Tolls, fees, fares, or other usage charges are not subject to supervision or regulation by any agency of this state or another governmental entity."

The law allows the department to acquire real property for a turnpike project and to "provide a location for an ancillary facility that generates revenue for use in the construction, maintenance, or operation of a turnpike project, including a gas station, garage, store, hotel, or restaurant."

The 'quick take' provision of the law provides that the department may file a declaration of taking with the clerk of the court, immediately serve a copy of the declaration on each person possessing an interest in the condemned property, file evidence of the service with the clerk of the court, and may thereupon take possession of the property pending the litigation.

http://www.corridorwatch.org/ttc/index.htm

And then today I read how the companies that are going to own the new toll roads are buying up media, so locals who depend on newspapers for their information won't know what's going on. See, they're selling this as "the Austin toll road system" and "the Dallas toll road system," but this is THOUSANDS of miles of roadway. They just want to keep locals in the dark about it:

Toll Road Giant Buys Newspapers to Silence Critics
Australian toll road giant Macquarie agreed Wednesday to purchase forty local newspapers, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, for $80 million. Macquarie Bank is Australia's largest capital raising firm and has invested billions in purchasing roads in the US, Canada and UK. Most recently the company joined with Cintra Concesiones of Spain in a controversial 75-year lease of the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road.

Sal Costello, the leading opponent of toll road projects as head of the Texas Toll Party, says the move is directly related to a 4000-mile toll road project known as the Trans-Texas Corridor. It will cost between $145 and $183 billion to construct the road, expected to be up to 1200 feet wide, requiring the acquisition of 9000 square miles of land in the areas through which it will pass.

"The newspapers are the main communication tool for many of the rural Texan communities, with many citizens at risk of losing their homes and farms through eminent domain," Costello wrote.

Many of the small papers purchased, most have a circulation of 5000 or less, have been critical of the Trans-Texas Corridor. An article in the Bonham Journal for example, states, "The toll roads will be under control of foreign investors, which more than frustrates Texans."

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/15/1570.asp

This is what's going on in Texas. If you haven't heard about it in your area, it's because the govt and media has been successful in keeping it out of the limelight. Look up "NAFTA superhighway" and you'll see this road system will eventually run from Central Mexico up into Canada. And to pay for this system, the legislatures and courts have legalized the theft of your land, and if you don't own any land, you'll contribute to the construction of the roads with license-scanned toll charges.

The above post about Bush's "Executive Order against emminent domain" is misleading. Bush said property can be taken for a roadway, and that was the goal from the outset. They grossly violated rights in New London, then Bush says it won't be allowed again, unless roadways are involved.