Dear Rick Perry: Davos has no coyotes, but it does have gun control laws

So, don't attempt to pack heat when you go to Switzerland to hobnob with the rich and famous after pretending to care about the little people. Because, you don't qualify for a permit.

It does have plenty of predatory capitalists, but, given the woes and travails of your emerging technology slush fund, you know all about those folks. Instead of guns, you have beers and shots with folks like that — not gunshots, but mulimillion-dollar money shots.

Per his press office:

Gov. Rick Perry will be in Davos, Switzerland from Tuesday, January 21 until Saturday, January 25, where he will hold private meetings and participate in two panel discussions at the World Economic Forum.

On Thursday, the governor will participate as a panelist in “The Drugs Dilemma: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business.”

On Friday, he will participate in the roundtable discussion “Governors Session: Health Summit.”

Private meetings? Like when he flies to other states here in the US of A and tries to sell businesses on relocating to Texas. Ricky Boy, that ain't flying nowhere.

Well, I take that back. Trans Texas Corridor partner Cintra might be over there, humping for toll road work.

Second, that "Drugs Dilemma" meeting? Rick, they're going to tell you to go easy in the nuttery of the War on Drugs. And when you try to talk about your Texas Miracle, they're going to laugh right in your face.

Governors' Session: Health Summit? Let me guess — this is a GOP governors' session to bitch about Obamacare. Any real health summit in Europe, if you talked about health care in Texas? They're going to laugh right in your face.

And, hey, it's time to trot out "famous handshakes concern trolling for $100!"

Because Tricky Ricky will have at least one Chinese Commee with which to hobnob. Jiang Jianqing, Chairman of the Board, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, People's Republic of China, will be there.

And, the Trickster, during his time in Davos, seemingly can't find time to attend any of the nearly half-dozen sessions on global warming. Surely one of them would be of more power than his drought relief prayers, which he admitted himself, again, this week, still aren't working.

TxDOT wants to cut losses on 130, toll I-35 in Austin

Well, this would be a new level of teh stupid: The Texas Department of Transportation’s Commission is considering proposals to add tolls to portions of IH-35 within Austin and converting the SH-130 toll road to a free-use road. 

I am assuming that our state's transportation leaders have broached such stupidity for political reasons, namely the possible bond default by Cintra/Zachry, Rick Perry's best buds since Trans Texas Corridor days, on the currently tolled Texas 130 of 80mph speed limits and no more than 80 cars per hour of traffic.

Anyway, here's the nut grafs, followed by my response:

TxDOT and local officials are considering more than $1 billion in possible projects that could relieve some of the congestion on I-35 through Austin, including adding toll lanes and redesigning frontage roads. Last month, the Austin City Council approved allocating $2 million toward TxDOT’s expenses to “evaluate creative solutions to reduce congestion and improve safety and mobility along and across I-35.” Redesignating a portion of SH 130 as I-35 and tolling those lanes remains an option, officials said.

“That’s what we’ll be looking at in the next nine to 18 months,” said Robert Spillar, transportation director for the city of Austin. “I think we need to consider every tool available to better manage I-35.” He stressed that he was not advocating for swapping a tolled highway and a non-tolled one.

Really?

First, where the hell are you going to put those toll booths for those lanes? And, unless it's going to be one fee for several straight miles of road, that question is double in spades for downtown, double-decked I-35.

Ditto on other things. I don't see how you can get much relief from redesigning frontage roads, because there ain't much room for that, either.

Second, unless you jacked the toll price for I-35 high, high, high, even if 130 now becomes free, I can't see this cutting downtown Austin traffic that much. And, if you do that, you need to upgrade mass transit to downtown, find new space for more Park-and-Ride lots, etc.

The problem, of course, is the city's exorbitant growth rate, combined with geography, especially being at the edge of the Hill Country on the west side.

Austinites like to compare their city to San Francisco, or maybe elsewhere in Silicon Valley. Due to the geographic issues, on freeways, L.A. is a more apt comparison.

And, the population issue is ridiculous. Travis County is expected to about double in 20 years, and Williamson to triple.

"Growth for growth's sake is the theology of the cancer cell." — Ed Abbey

As for TxDOT's side, outside of any Cintra/Zachry politics, this has to be its dumbest move since proposing that it double-deck the LBJ on the north side of Dallas.

I'm also suspicious of timing issues. Yes, a constitutional amendments election isn't high profile, but did TxDOT folks hope they would get some news camouflage?

And, per Burnt Orange Report, I wonder if this is the state's attempt to help salvage the private parties' credit rating.

TX 130 running at 50 percent of projections - thoughts on why

Well, of course Cintra and Zachry didn't want these numbers released, because it could cause "competitive harm" to their parent joint shell company for this, Texas 130 Concession.

"Competitive harm" in this case means their fear that Moody's or others are going to downgrade their debt rating.

Anyway, here's the basics:

Traffic counts on the new section of Texas 130, released Friday by the Texas Department of Transportation based on newspaper open records requests, show that the tollway southeast of Austin in its first couple of months was seeing fewer than 3,000 vehicles a day. ...

The early numbers are about half of what the company predicted in 2008, according to Moody’s Investor Service, which is investigating whether credit ratings on the company’s $1.1 billion in debt on the road should be downgraded.

Well, the real problem is, where the south end of 130 comes out.

The middle of nowhere, in a sense, if you look at the map.

It's not really a very direct bypass for drivers going between Dallas or Waco and San Antonio. It's no bypass at all if you're coming from the north and wanting to go to San Marcos.

If you want to go to Houston from Georgetown, on the other hand, the south end isn't far enough east.

I don't know who argued the most for the routing of the south end of 130. Probably the state, more than Cintra/Zachry. That said, they bought this pig in a poke.

Anyway, somebody's an idiot.

Rick Perry sucking up to Spanish Ambassador … is Cintra on the agenda?

From an e-mail I got at work from the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce:

The Honorable Rick Perry will be among a host of business executives and Texas leadership welcoming U.S. Ambassador to Spain Eduardo Aguirre to Dallas on Monday, May 12, at the Rosewood Crescent Hotel hosted by the Greater Dallas Chamber.

“We are pleased to welcome the Governor and the Ambassador to the Dallas region for this important event,” said Victor Almeida, chair of the Greater Dallas Chamber¹s International Business Council (IBC) and CEO of Interceramic Inc. “The Chamber has a long history of working to recruit inward investment and trade development opportunities to North Texas. This is an excellent opportunity for Dallas-area businesses to connect with Spanish companies without crossing the Atlantic,” continued Almeida.

Companies like Cintra, the Spanish tie-in with Zachry Construction for the Trans Texas Corridor?

In four years time, Spain has quadrupled its investments in the United States. Spain is now focusing its attention on the North Texas region. The Honorable Eduardo Aguirre, U.S. Ambassador to Spain and the American Chamber of Commerce in Spain will lead this U.S.-Spain development mission to the State of Texas to promote Spanish investment in Texas and develop joint ventures and technology exchanges with key Texas cities. This mission includes 20 Spanish companies from the following sectors: life sciences, aviation technologies, food and wine products, and sustainable technologies including renewable energies, water treatment and industrial manufacturing.

What, where’s road construction?

But, aviation technologies? Maybe Cintra wants to toll our air traffic controllers?

Anyway, hold on to your hats.

Another good reason to oppose toll roads

Mix in PayPass glitches, mistakes and misreads, the temptation to hike fees at a higher rate on automated roads, surcharges for things like paper statements, and toll road private companies, or governments, cutting back on human toll booth operators, thereby increasing traffic jams unless you break down and use a PayPassand you have a pain in the butt. Throw in the fact that the biggest private toll road operators, like Cintra and Macquarie, are global in reach, have deep pockets and are all too ready to lobby state representatives, and you have private-sector greed on top of that pain in the butt.