Long article on the Outer Loop. From this reading I can estimate that the loop will start somewhere with an I-65 interchange in southwest Montgomery and continue to move across the city north of I-85.
Outer loop plan driven by lawmaker
By Dan E. Way
Montgomery Advertiser
Frustrated by more than a decade of insignificant activity on Montgomery's so-called "outer loop," state Rep. Thad McClammy believes it is time for a radical rethinking of how to approach building the interstate-quality highway around the city.
He has introduced legislation to make the loop a limited-access toll road, and the bill would allow residents to vote on the matter as a constitutional amendment. Most of the outer-loop corridor is in the Montgomery Democrat's district.
As envisioned, the semicircle, pay-as-you-go highway would be 15 to 18 miles long, stretching from U.S. 80 in southwest Montgomery to Interstate 85 on the east side, roughly the same path as the existing outer-loop plan.
A nine-member authority would be appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the House, Montgomery City Council, Montgomery County Commission and members of the Montgomery legislative delegation to five-year terms.
The authority would sell bonds to build the road and determine the usage fee on those costs. Fees likely would be levied by the number of axles on a vehicle, McClammy said.
"I'm proposing to let the people vote on it, and if they don't vote for it, then they can just be quiet about the outer loop," McClammysaid.
"Most of them feel that unless a different approach is made, they'll still be talking about the outer loop 15 or 20 years from now," he said. "There's more conversation than asphalt."
The Federal Highway Administration's Joe D. Wilkerson agrees.
"It would be possible to develop that as a toll road," said Wilkerson, Alabama Division administrator for the agency. "It may well be that other sources of funding will have to be found if we're going to complete some of these roads. Otherwise, we're going to have to have a substantial increase in motor fuel taxes."
In fact, McClammy's bill includes language to raise Montgomery County taxes to a level equal to the city's rates, using the increase to help fund the toll road.
"I'm not going to be in favor of any gasoline taxes," said state Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, who opposed a 5-cent state gasoline tax increase last year. "As a matter of fact, I'm introducing a bill next week to take the 5 cents off the gallon of gasoline. Gas is so high right now people can hardly drive their car."
Holmes, who otherwise voiced no qualms with the concept of a toll road, said McClammy's bill has been referred to the Montgomery legislative delegation for review. As chairman of that group, he will preside over a public hearing on the measure at 2 p.m. Monday in Room 619 at the Alabama State House.
Montgomery city and county officials also have concerns about a toll road authority with taxing powers.
"The problem I had with the original bill was the funding mechanism," said Todd Strange, County Commission chairman. "It says something about equalization of taxes."
Strange said he has received assurances from McClammy that the clause will be removed.
"I support all efforts to try to get the outer loop started," and if it requires a toll road to make that happen, Strange said, he would support it.
"We've spent almost $50 million in the federal, state and county governments in the last 15 years and we still don't see any asphalt," the county commissioner said, adding that another $300 million would be needed to get the job done.
Strange also wonders whether the toll road authority in McClammy's legislation is necessary since there is a state toll road authority.
"We don't want to be in conflict with the state toll road authority by creating another authority," he said. "Somehow we've got to figure out how those work in concert."
Working in concert is something Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright said has not occurred on this bill.
"I'm totally against it at this point in time," Bright said, because McClammy did not brief him or otherwise pursue collaborative efforts on the bill.
"To me, that's inappropriate to introduce legislation to potentially affect citizens and municipalities without discussing it with them," Bright said. "Since he didn't do that, I have to assume it will be bad for the city."
Among the sticking points in the bill cited by Bright were the taxing mechanisms and the appointment process.
"The taxing authority is over and beyond the city's and county's," he said. "That seriously bothers me." He views the toll road authority as "another level of bureaucracy" that "could take away authority elected officials -- city and county -- would have in developing the outer loop."
Bright also said the legislation deprives him of any appointive powers to the authority.
"It needs to have a representative speaking from the management level of the executive branch of city government," he said. Without that power, "that's watering down the county and city, any authority they may have on the outer loop, and giving it to the governor and the lieutenant governor and the speaker."
Montgomery residents also are torn in their opinions about developing the highway as a toll road, which spawned a friendly family feud outside a shopping center on the south side of the city.
"I think it's a good idea," said Jamie Broadway, whose family owns 47 acres of land in Hope Hull. "It would make our property value go up."
"It's going to be a nuisance," replied his mother, Susan Broadway. "Think about how many times you would have to pay to go to work."
In the end, Broadway's son conceded that his mother, with some cell-phone input from her mother-in-law, Shirley Broadway, had the more salient arguments in the debate.
"The government is building roads for everyone else. Why can't they do it for us?" Susan Broadway asked. "West Montgomery needs to be treated equally as east Montgomery. We shouldn't have to pay to get where we need to go. ... They made roads accessible for Hyundai; now they need to make it accessible for neighbors."
Chris Russell of Montgomery said a toll road might be attractive for out-of-town traffic looking to skirt the city as quickly as it can to reach a destination.
"I don't think it will work in the city limits" to draw local traffic off the crowded bypass, Russell said.
"I don't think we need a toll road," said Joe Frederick of Montgomery. "I wouldn't use it. I'd go around it. We pay enough taxes now."
But costs could escalate much more if movement doesn't speed up on the project, the Federal Highway Administration's Wilkerson said.
There is an approved location for the outer loop that was drawn following an environmental impact study, he said.
"But unless the public officials buy the property, that doesn't keep the people from developing subdivisions or other businesses along that alignment," Wilkerson said. "Unless some effort is made to buy land, the development will curve all the way across the line and property costs will get too high" to make the project feasible along that alignment.
That is among the reasons Paul Hankins, a municipal consultant to the city and the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, is involved in efforts to move the schedule up for building the outer loop. Those include a trip to Washington two weeks ago to lobby the Alabama congressional delegation and a meeting with Gov. Bob Riley in the past week.
"We ought to remain open minded about any possibilities for finding a solution for the outer loop," Hankins said, even if the final recourse is a toll road. "The governor was very receptive to our message, which is we need to see if there is a way to move Montgomery's outer loop up on the priority schedule for the state."
"If we're going to open up the western Black Belt portion of the state, the only way is to ... generate growth out of a central economic entity," and that would be Montgomery, Hankins said. "The governor was very much interested in that."
McClammy says, "Personally, I think folks are ready to get the outer loop done. When Hyundai opens and all those suppliers' trucks that we're not seeing yet ... and all the employees' cars come through, it's going to be a nightmare" on existing city and county streets and roads. "Until we see a road, we can't afford to keep sitting back."
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