Toll critics weren't allowed to set up a table to greet crowds coming into a public hearing Tuesday for a proposed U.S. 281 tollway, but once inside they made their point.
When Joe Krier, president of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, got up to explain how tolls could fund twice as many miles of express lanes in half the time, letting motorists pay if they want to avoid worsening traffic congestion, boos laced the applause that followed.
When toll critic Terri Hall, leader of the San Antonio Toll Party, addressed the hearing to say that gas tax money can pay for what's needed on U.S. 281 and warned how foreign companies would suck million of dollars in profits from motorists, many in the crowd stood to cheer.
And there were a lot of people to make noise.
The Texas Department of Transportation, which held the hearing in the main ballroom of the Alzafar Shrine Temple to get input on its draft environmental assessment for the project, counted 652 people, far more than in attendance at most other local public hearings.
Almost one in 10 who showed signed up to speak.
More at MySanAntonio.com
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