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Citizens may not even know a toll-funded project is being planned for their neighborhood because the toll road authority is not required to hold public meetings. Under current law even municipalities have no legal say over what the toll road authority does within city boundaries. This is particulaly worrisome now because of the huge number of road projects (nearly 12,000 lane miles worth) that were just approved in the 2025 Regional Transportation Plan that will depend on toll funding. Changes in state law are needed to make the toll road authority accountable to the public it is supposed to be serving. Alvin, Spring, and all other communities threatened by the many "streamlined" toll-funded projects cropping up all over the region need to work together to help change state law. The Citizens Transportation Coalition (www.citizenstransportationcoalition.org) has asked local state legislators to support changes in state law that would ensure the following: --All new toll road authority funded projects must have the approval of the municipalities and county governments to be impacted. --No new toll road authority funded project can proceed to the design and engineering state unless local governments approve the specific project proposed by the toll road authority or TxDOT through an affirmative vote. Inclusion of the project in a Metropolitan Planning Organization's long range plans would not constitute such an approval. --The State of Texas must certify that a new toll road authority funded project has gone through a robust public citizen review process. This would include public meetings held at least 60 days after a public announcement of the meeting and the public release of information and plans detailing the proposal. --Citizens can petition for the right to approve or disapprove a new toll road authority funded project by ballot initiative. --Existing highways or roads can not be converted to toll roads, including the establishment of tolled lanes, without the same approval by local governments. With the possibility of citizens disapproving a new toll-funded project by ballot initiative hanging over their heads, HCTRA will be forced to involve the public in a meaningful way from the beginning. This will guarantee that the end product is something that communities (not just highway contractors) really want. If you want to help go to www.citizenstransportationcoalition.org