Austin: 40 miles of tollroad to open in December
- From: "HoustonFreeways" <eslotboom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2006 18:48:16 -0500
About 40 miles of the Central Texas turnpike network will open in December,
9 months ahead of schedule. About 24 miles will remain under construction,
probably until December 2007. In addition, the 11.6 mile US 183A toll road
is scheduled for March 2007 completion with about 5 miles of tolled main
lanes (the remainder frontage roads only).
Web page includes a map of tollway to be opened
(I think registration is required)
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/06/7tolls.html
Toll roads to open in December
About 40 miles of roads opening nine months early and $125 million below
construction estimates.
By Ben Wear
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
The state in December will open all or portions of three toll roads in
Central Texas, 40 miles in all, officials confirmed Tuesday.
The turnpikes - the extension of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) north of Parmer
Lane, Texas 45 North from Loop 1 east to the new Texas 130, and the northern
half of Texas 130 itself - will be the first toll roads in the greater
Austin area. These three roads, generally new paths cut through cedar and
cactus, have not generated the controversy of a proposed second wave of
Central Texas tollways that would overlay existing highways.
The opening will come about nine months before the original estimate for
those sections, September 2007. And the construction costs, according to the
most recent quarterly statement for the three-road project, are about $125
million below the original $1.75 billion estimate.
The costs for acquiring right of way to build the roads came in an
additional $200 million or so below original estimates.
Gov. Rick Perry is expected to hold a news conference Thursday announcing
the opening and noting the early finish and lower costs.
"It is certainly good news for people who have been stuck in traffic jams
that this project is being completed a year early and well under budget,"
Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said. Three other state officials, who
requested anonymity in light of the coming Perry announcement, confirmed
details about the December opening.
Texas 130, a 49-mile, four-lane tollway east of Austin that is intended to
provide a bypass around clogged Interstate 35 traffic, was designed and
built using a relatively new approach to contracting in which one entity (in
this case a consortium called Lone Star Infrastructure) does everything.
That project is actually over original cost estimates by $90.2 million,
according to a February report on what is called the Central Texas Turnpike
Project.
But the Loop 1 and Texas 45 North sections of the project, built under a
more traditional procurement approach and using several contractors for
distinctsegments, were a combined $217 million under budget as of February.
In all cases, state transportation officials have said, construction
contracts were laden with incentives and potential penalties to speed
construction and get toll revenue rolling in as fast as possible.
"We have a plan, and it's based on some sound strategies," Texas
Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson said. "And one of our
strategies is to use competition to drive down costs. And there will be no
better example of our strategies than (Texas) 130."
The western third of Texas 45 North and the southern half of Texas 130 -
about 24 miles of highway - are further behind in construction and will not
open in December. It was not clear Tuesday whether they, too, will open
ahead of their original estimated completion dates of September 2007 (for
Texas 130 from U.S. 290 to Texas 71 near the airport) and December 2007 (for
the western part of Texas 45 North and the southerly 8.7 miles of Texas
130).
A different toll road, U.S. 183-A, being built and operated by the Central
Texas Regional Mobility Authority rather than the state, will connect to the
western end of Texas 45 North and is expected to open in March 2007.
When the roads open in December, motorists willing to pay about 15 cents a
mile (more for trucks) will find some newly unobstructed paths to and from
Round Rock and an alternative to taking I-35 from Georgetown to North
Austin.
Drivers will have two options for paying.
If they buy an electronic toll tag - called a TxTag and already available
online - they'll be able to pass through toll plazas every few miles without
slowing down and to exit the freeway without stopping at a toll booth. And
they'll pay 10 percent less than people using cash.
The Texas Department of Transportation is expected in coming weeks to begin
a marketing blitz for the tags, which will be usable on Houston and Dallas
toll roads as well, and to make them more widely available.
Every main toll plaza and exit ramp plaza (other than a few where there will
be no charge to exit) will have cash booths.
Unlike the proposed controversial second wave of toll roads, which would
have free-to-drive frontage roads alongside, these three roads by and large
will have frontage roads only near exits and entrances.
bwear@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; 445-3698
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