Advocates for more transportation spending are worried about a phenomenon they call “cone fatigue”–so named for all the construction cones drivers see across the state. If lawmakers authorize more spending on roads, the issue will be sent to the voters as a constitutional amendment. The concern is that there is so much road construction going on now, particularly in the Metroplex, that voters will get the idea that the state has a lot of money to spend on highway construction.
Actually, no. The money will come from the Rainy Day Fund. But the ever-present cones attest to the availability of money and the spending that is taking place. Now the question is whether voters will support the constitutional amendment for more spending on roads, after seeing all the construction that is going on. A similar concern among water planners raises the issue of whether the $2 billion earmarked for water projects, also via constitutional amendment, will get voters’ support. It will likely require a major media campaign to pass the constitutional amendment.
