Travis County commissioner pledges support on road issues

"I have said ever since I got involved in politics, and even way before I was elected, that you had better get out in front as much as you can with building a comprehensive roadway system," he said. "If you do not build a comprehensive roadway system first, then you are never going to do anything with traffic."

He said that the past 25 years have disproved the theory that the population will not grow if you do not build the infrastructure to support growth.

No. 1 priority

Daugherty called for the construction of SH 45 SW, the long-delayed roadway connecting MoPac to FM 1626 near the Hays County border. He said that it has been 16 years since Travis County voters approved spending money to purchase rights of way to build the road.

"Sixteen years have passed, and we are basically no closer to getting the darn road built than when we passed [the road bond]," he said.

He called getting the road built his No. 1 priority.

Daugherty called it the most ludicrous thing he had ever heard that the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization planned to dedicate large amounts of funding during the next 25 years toward alternative forms of transportation.

"If you loaded up every type of alternative form of transportation from roller skate to rocket ship—everything other than a car—you couldn't get 5 percent of travel, cumulative," he said.

He later made similar statements about the city's plans for urban rail.

"My grandma didn't get run over by a train. I don't have a problem with trains or anything," he said. "It just is not a cost-effective way to move people around unless you have a huge amount of population density. People come here from the northeast. The last thing people here want is to be stacked on top of each other. People here want yards and dogs and things like that."

He said CAMPO should promote transit in circumstances where it makes sense.

Flyovers, buses, toll roads

He said he supported using transportation funds for projects such as the I-35/Ben White Boulevard flyovers that are widely used.

Daugherty also promoted the city's bus system because of its flexibility; bus routes can change while railways cannot. He said he would not "rail against rail" but would rather work to find funds to build roadways.

He said some transportation improvements may need to include tolled lanes.

"In Oak Hill, you might as well get over it," he said, referring to the idea that a long-term West Hwy. 290 expansion project would include tolls. "To build that road, it's going to be a $500 [million]–$600 million project. [The Texas Department of Transportation] is not going to build that road unless they can build it to accommodate growth for the next 40 to 50 years. That's why it has that price tag."

He said that if the project did not have tolls and "you let TxDOT build it with the lack of dollars they have," the road would not be completed in the next 30 years.

Daugherty said the short-term solution for the West Hwy. 290 corridor—which includes turn lanes and continuous flow intersections—will likely be completed in 2018 to 2020.

Although he called the short-term solution a bandage to the problem, he said the new continuous-flow intersections, likely to be finished in 2015, would be great for the community.

Budget

Daugherty explained that one of the Commissioners Court's main responsibilities is setting the county tax rate and budgeting. He said the 2013 budget would likely be around $550 million.

The budget, among other projects, pays for the judicial and criminal justice system. Daugherty said that Travis County has approximately 2,600 people in custody and spends $1 million on prescription drugs for those who are incarcerated.