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Funding program for road building moving forward By Kurt Johnson A road consultant for Williamson County said a joint state-county program for funding road improvements could apply to work that has been planned for US 79 between Taylor and the eastern county line. Mike Weaver, the county's road and highway consultant, told county commissioners last week that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is moving forward with its "pass-through tolling" program, including paying the county interest on the funds it provides up-front for the projects in the program. According to Weaver, under the program the county would use its authority to issue bonds to secure initial funding for approved projects. The highway department then pays the county back over an agreed number of years, based on the amount of traffic that uses the new or improved roadway. Even though the project is described as "pass-through tolling," the roadways to which the program applies are not toll roads. Weaver said a recent breakthrough in the discussions between TxDOT and Williamson County is a commitment by the department to pay the interest as well as the principal incurred by the county in issuing its own bonds. "The interest alone will amount to several million dollars," Weaver said. He said the program is critical in order to proceed with improvements on US 79, both east of Taylor and in the Hutto area. No specific timetable has been projected regarding when such work east of Taylor might begin.
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