Emmett: Westpark peak pricing idea is dead

Well, the peak pricing proposal for the Westpark Tollway died more quickly than we expected: On Thursday, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said the county commissioners will cancel the proposed doubling of Westpark tolls at rush hour, a decision that "was certainly influenced by the public's reaction." Under the proposal, transactions along the Westpark would have doubled from $1.25 (after a general 25-cent increase across the entire county toll road system to $2.50 from 6 to 9 a.m. for inbound drivers and 4 to 7 p.m. for outbound drivers. Had that gone into effect, it would have cost $5.50 to drive the tollway's 14-mile length during the morning or afternoon rush hour, an idea that really rubbed commuters the wrong way.

County commissioners approved the peak pricing plan on the advice of traffic consultants who noted that the Westpark is running above capacity and suggested that doubling the toll at peak hours would reduce traffic congestion on the four-lane road. But Emmett said the commissioners looked at alternate routes and decided there weren't any viable alternatives to the Westpark other than backed-up surface streets and Interstate 10, which will be under construction until the end of time. "The truth of the matter is, we and the consultants hadn't factored in the construction on the other highways," Emmett told the Chronicle. "You can't have congestion pricing if you don't have a place for people to go to avoid congestion." Emmett told KPRC that new studies will be conducted to figure out other ways to cut congestion on the Westpark.

Though the Westpark peak idea is dead — or will be next week, when the commissioners make things official — the 25-cent systemwide increase will still go into effect later this summer, meaning EZ Tag transactions will increase to $1.25 and cash transactions will increase to $1.50, the first step in a plan to double all tolls over the next 20 years. That move, along with the Westpark proposal, was expected to bring the Harris County Toll Road Authority $65 million more in revenue each year, which would help the agency maintain its roads and begin construction on six new toll segments expected to cost $4.4 billion. Nixing the peak fees will decrease those revenue projections — Emmett said he's not sure by how much — but officials expect they'll still have enough money to begin construction on the new road segments.