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Top Stories: TxDOT Abandoning Plan To Add Toll Lanes

North Texas Tollway Authority

The top local stories this morning from KERA News: After pushback, the Texas Department of Transportation will no longer consider using an accounting maneuver to get around a constitutional ban on using tax dollars for toll projects.

The Texas Tribune this week reported TxDOT had considered directing tax dollars and federal loans towards adding toll lanes to existing state highways. However, while Texas voters in 2014 and 2015 did approve constitutional amendments on highway expansions, that was on the condition the money would not be spent on toll roads.

After the Tribune report, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told state transportation leaders to drop those plans.

Other stories this morning:

You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.

Former KERA staffer Krystina Martinez was an assistant producer. She produced local content for Morning Edition and KERANews.org. She also produced The Friday Conversation, a weekly series of conversations with North Texas newsmakers. Krystina was also the backup newscaster for the Texas Standard.