Providing the public with
transportation choices requires
creative thinking. This approach has
characterized the activity of
NCTCOG and its transportation
policymaking body, the Regional
Transportation Council, for many
years. Two current examples are the
TEXpress Lanes on Interstate
Highway 30 and the southern
extension of SH 360.
IH 30 TEXpress Lanes
In August 2016, the first portion of the IH 30 TEXpress Lanes opened from SH 161 to Westmoreland Road in Dallas County. The project was funded through the Texas Department of Transportation's Pass-Through Finance Program. This program was an agreement between the RTC and TxDOT in which the
RTC was required to pay costs up front and receive State reimbursement for approximately 80 percent of the project costs.
The region began receiving Regional Toll Revenues from this partnership, which will be used to fund projects within Dallas and Tarrant counties. Construction on this project is approximately
$61 million, with an anticipated $240 million return in toll revenue over 25 years. The remaining portions of the TEXpress Lanes
are set to open in the summer of 2017 and in 2020.
SH 360 South
Construction on the 9.7 mile SH 360 South project began in the fall of 2015. To finance the project, the RTC entered into a financial backstop agreement with TxDOT and the North Texas Tollway Authority. TxDOT is constructing the facility and advancing approximately$300 million in construction costs.
Upon substantial completion, the project will be transferred to NTTA, which will operate it. If tolls from the facility are insufficient to cover the operations, maintenance and debt service on the TxDOT loan for the project, the RTC financial backstop may be triggered. Once the TxDOT loan is retired, excess revenue is shared 50/50 between TxDOT/RTC and NTTA.
Accountability is another essential part of the equation required with the spending of billions of dollars of public funds. To this end, a new performance-driven planning process was initiated in 2016 in the Regional 10-Year Plan.
Regional 10-Year Plan
In approving House Bill 20 in 2015, the Texas Legislature required TxDOT and NCTCOG to develop a 10-year plan for the region that considers performance-based planning and project-selection criteria. In August 2016, the Texas Transportation Commission announced new funding allocations for fiscal years 2017-2026 to address urban mobility, statewide connectivity and strategic priorities. The 10-year plan uses performance measures to account for:
1. Improvements to congestion and safety
2. Effects on economic development
3. Available funding
4. Air quality and environmental effects
5. Socioeconomic, health, or environmental effects on minority or low-income
neighborhoods
Using this performance-based planning and project-selection process, the RTC approved $6.9 billion in projects, submitting the list to TxDOT in December 2016.
2017-2020 Transportation Improvement Program
The 2017-2020 Transportation Improvement Program was approved by Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration in December
2016. The 2017-2020 TIP outlines $4.02 billion to be spent on 875 active roadway and transit projects from 71 implementing agencies.
The TIP is a required inventory of transportation projects covering four years of local, State and federal
funding. The TIP is updated quarterly and redeveloped at two-year intervals.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
It is important to be ready when opportunities to improve mobility present themselves, as was the case when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law in 2009. By fiscal year 2016, all $885.71 million awarded to NCTCOG and the RTC had been spent on surface transportation projects. Several significant roadway and rail projects received funding and were accelerated by ARRA.
2016 DFW Road amd Rail Improvements (over $10 million) |
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