Like the river its supposed to run beside, everything about the Trinity toll road is murky. It's hard to know where the funding for the toll road will come from, hard to know what it will look like if it ever gets built and harder still to figure out why anyone thinks it should be built.
City Council member Philip Kingston, one of the strongest voices in the city against the toll road, has completed a little project to do his part to clear things up. Kingston has managed to collect the most extensive documentation we've seen on who exactly is for, and who exactly is against, the toll road.
Toll Road Supporters and Opponents by sdallasesq
A lot of the names, and their spots on the list, aren't surprising. Mayor Mike Rawlings is, of course, pro-toll road. Kingston and his fellow council members Scott Griggs, Adam Medrano and Sandy Greyson are against it.There are some interesting bits if you scroll down, however. Former Mayor Laura Miller, who was cited as a supporter of the toll road as recently as this June 2014 Vonciel Jones Hill Dallas Morning News op-ed, told Kingston that she has changed her mind.
"I oppose anything but a lower speed, landscaped, meandering four lane parkway. Which it is clear would never get built with today's road proponents pushing for high speed and six lanes -- and the [Army Corps of Engineers] all but declaring no landscaping will be permitted. The window to have built what Sandy and I supported in the compromise has closed."
John Carona -- an outgoing state senator with a lot of potential money behind him who will run for Dallas mayor at some point -- is listed as being against the road. So is Joe Tave, who's announced his intentions to seek Hill's District 3 council seat in the spring.
Kingston says he simply wanted to make it clear where everyone who stands somewhere on the toll road actually stands. As for notables who haven't yet declared themselves, Kingston says he's thinking about putting together a second list just for them.
