BUILDING A TOLL LANE SYSTEM

(Click on CHART to the right for a larger view.)

Due to growing congestion, and the decreasing availability of Federal and State funds to address the transportation needs of Bexar County, the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (Alamo RMA) was created to assist in finding innovative ways to finance and construct needed transportation projects throughout Bexar County.

One way to help address the transportation needs of our community is to build roadways faster, utilizing toll financing. Toll financing allows projects to be accelerated in construction and opening, and creates a funding mechanism to pay for ongoing maintenance for the tolled lanes.

Even with the accelerated process available using toll financing, toll lanes can still take between 6 to 8 years to complete, from the initial feasibility study to the road opening. This is still far sooner than the normal 15 to 20 years we take to build a roadway using “pay as you go” or conventional financing.

The Alamo RMA Process

Projects currently being evaluated by the Alamo RMA were identified in the first part of this decade as areas with high congestion, where funding was inadequate or not available to address the entire needs of the corridor. Each project shown on the system map is currently being evaluated for toll feasibility.

The process of the initial feasibility study, which helps to determine a base line from which to proceed, can take between 4 and 6 months to complete. At the end of the feasibility study, a decision is made whether to continue project development based upon the feasibility study recommendations, or the study determines the project has “insufficient feasibility to develop” and is not worth pursuing as a toll project.

Once a feasibility study has recommended further study and evaluation, the Alamo RMA evaluation process begins.

Through public meetings, public hearings, an extensive environmental evaluation process, and an interim financial feasibility study, over approximately 24 months, the Alamo RMA is constantly evaluating options for alignments, design, and cost estimates. This detailed and intensive process helps determine if the transportation project proposed is feasible and helps to identify potential impacts on our community.

This stage of the process provides for and benefits from direct public involvement, and helps ensure that the projects undertaken by the Alamo RMA benefit our community’s transportation needs.

Throughout the environmental analysis, the Alamo RMA is also evaluating a “No Build” option to the proposed transportation project. A “No Build” option would leave the corridor and transportation infrastructure as it exists today at the start of the project, with no additional infrastructure added by the Alamo RMA.

At the end of this approximately 24-month process, if the environmental evaluation recommends a preferred alternative, the Alamo RMA will receive environmental clearance to proceed with the project. This process will also produce the schematic design to be used in the Investment Grade Revenue Study part of this process.

Once the schematic design is complete, the Alamo RMA will engage in a final feasibility study to determine if the project is financially viable over a reasonable period of time. This step is also referred to as an Investment Grade Traffic and Revenue study and can take between 12 to 18 months to complete.

If the final feasibility study determines the project is not financially feasible at this time, construction will be delayed until additional funding can be identified to advance this project.

If this final feasibility study determines the project is financially viable and the Alamo RMA can secure the necessary funding to construct this project, the final step in our process is to develop construction plans, and acquire needed right of way prior to actual construction occurring. This last step can vary based upon each project, but should take between 2 to 3 years until we see the roadway open and our community utilizing this new transportation benefit.

Throughout the entire process the Alamo RMA will do all it can to encourage public involvement and participation as we strive to “Move people faster.”