Texas in the early stages of taking over the tolling and maintenance of the lanes along SH-288

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It's talked about as one of the pricier tolls in our region-the State Highway 288 Express Tollway. It stretches from the Pearland area into Downtown Houston, but may sometimes cost drivers upwards of $15. Commuter Nicholas Tidwell usually opts for the main lanes or frontage road.

"It seems pretty steep for being only 7 to 8 miles to downtown," Tidwell said. "I would expect it to be a little cheaper, being that close in miles."

The state of Texas is making moves to take over the tolling and maintenance of the lanes along SH-288, but it's early in the process and remains to be seen if it will have any effect on how it operates or the price of those tolls.

If you begin your drive on SH-288 in Brazoria County, that county has its own Toll Road Authority.

In Harris County, the Blueridge Transportation Group, or BTG, has an agreement with TxDOT to operate the 288 Express Toll. It posts toll prices online 14 days prior to the start of each month. It's dynamic pricing based on entry and exit points, time and day, and historical use of the toll system.

Tidwell thinks of it as 'surge' pricing.

"I think it should be a flat rate. I don't think there should be surge pricing, but it seems like nowadays, a lot of places like fast food are doing surge pricing."

The state of Texas is poised to act upon an agreement it has with BTG, which would allow it to pay to take over maintenance of the SH-288 corridor and tolling.

The Texas Transportation Commission voted in late March to form a transportation corporation. According to TxDOT documents, the state named three initial directors who are all high-ranking Austin-based individuals at TxDOT. The formation of the corporation gives them the power to move forward with executing the deal.

The initial directors are listed in the new corporation documents as TxDOT's Chief Financial Officer, Stephen Stewart; Chief Administrative Officer, Richard McMonagle; and Director of Project Development, Mohamed Bur.

Those documents also outline the directors' terms of six years, serving until March 31, 2030.

Neither TxDOT or BTG agreed to an on-camera interview about the next steps.

A short statement from TxDOT says in part -- "if the agreement is terminated, toll revenue collected after the date of termination and future decisions regarding tolling policies, pricing, and operations will be at the authority of the Texas Transportation Commission."

BTG said in its own statement that it looks forward to working with the state over the coming months to best serve the people of Texas. ABC13 asked TxDOT: will local communities have representation on the transportation board, will toll pricing change, and what factors will help make the final decision about whether this deal goes through? Neither side offered to talk in detail about those topics, but we're filing open records requests to see if we can gain more insight for you as to what might happen next.

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