Regional Transportation Council to hold public meeting

by Bill Baumbach of of The Collin County Observer

The Regional Transportation Council is a committee made up of elected city and county officials in the nine-county DFW planning region (PDF). The RTC is the primary planning and funds disbursement organization for all highway, rail and mobility projects that get state or federal funding. It controls literally billions of mobility dollars including the $2 billion gained from the SH 121 toll road contract with NTTA.

On Monday, February 9, the RTC is holding a public meeting at the Christopher Parr Library in far west Plano. The meeting will begin at 6:30 P.M.

The RTC "invites the public to learn what is happening with transportation in the region and to help set priorities for the future."

Topics to be presented include:

* Long-term planning Final recommendations for the Mobility 2030 plan.

* Short-term planning detailing the listing of transportation projects planned in the DFW region.

* Air quality conformity for all long and short range projects.

* Status of regional projects scheduled to receive federal economic recovery funds

The Collin County members of the RTC are Collin County Commissioner Joe Jaynes, Plano Councilman Lee Dunlap, NTTA Chairman Paul Wagemen (from Plano), Frisco Mayor Maher Maso and McKinney Mayor Bill Whitfield.

Unfortunately the regional planning group didn't plan for Collin County Days in Austin, to be held on the same day as the public meeting. I know Commissioner Jaynes plans to be in Austin. I don't know if any of our other representatives will be at the public meeting.

These meetings are usually held held by senior and mid-level staff at NCTCOG. I would like to see more of my elected representatives at these public meetings. They are the ones who are accountable to the taxpayers, not their staff.

I do know that I am planning on attending. One question I will ask is why the RTC does not keep a record on how its members voted. For a group that dispenses billions of dollars, it is beyond belief that the citizens can not get the basic information they need to hold their representatives accountable.

I will also be interested in the current efforts to get the $2.6 billion from the SH 121 toll road contract away from TxDOT and back in the region.

Details of the meeting plans can be found on a flyer (PDF) posted on the North Central Texas Council of Governments website.