Progress North Texas 2010

Partnerships Keep Projects Moving Forward Summary of Projects Under, Soon-To-Be Under Construction		Subscribe Recent Success, Remaining Challenges >>> Planning Transportation for 12 Counties >>> Statewide, Federal Funding Shortfalls >>> Air Quality Improving, More Work Needed >>> Partnerships Keep Projects Moving Forward Preserving Quality of Life for North Texas >>> Transit Increasing Accessibility, Reliability >>> Economic Recovery Funds Building Transportation Legacy >>> Continue the Conversation — Your Opinion Counts >>>
NCTCOG and its partners work together to ensure the region’s transportation needs are adequately addressed. Great strides have been made in the past year, but in a metropolitan area as large as Dallas-Fort Worth, there is always more work to be done. Sometimes that work is evident, and other times it’s behind the scenes. Road construction in North Texas is booming, with billions of dollars in projects beginning or coming closer than ever before to reality. Policymakers, local governments and transportation providers are working together to help deliver these projects and many more that will meet the region’s needs. As important as highways are to mobility, the region will not end congestion by simply building more roadways. For quality of life to be preserved for years, the transportation system will have to be truly multimodal, also offering rail service throughout the area. And major strides are being made in that direction.
Construction Snapshot Moving the Region Forward: An Update on What is Under Construction
The President George Bush Turnpike Eastern Extension: This 9.9-mile segment from SH 78 to IH 30 is currently under construction. The toll road will include six total lanes and is expected to open to traffic in late 2011. Twenty percent of the revenue will assist in funding other projects. Partners: NTTA, TxDOT
The DFW Connector: Ground was broken on the DFW Connector in February of this year. When complete, this project will include new interchanges, a mixture of free and tolled highway lanes and continuous frontage roads along an eight-mile corridor including State Highways 114 and 121, and IH 635 north of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Partners: TxDOT, NorthGate Constructors

Under Construction: Interstate Highway 30 in Arlington and State Highway 161

Interstate Highway 30 in Arlington: The stretch of Interstate Highway 30 between Cooper Street and State Highway 360 in Arlington is being rebuilt to improve traffic flow through the congested area. The project includes the reconstruction of the freeway main lanes depressed below ground level, the addition of continuous frontage roads, construction of new HOV/managed lanes, construction of new bridges at Baird Farm Road and Center Street, and reconstruction of the Collins Street bridge. The project is expected to be complete in 2010. Partner: TxDOT

State Highway 161:In April of this year, TxDOT completed construction of the State Highway 161 toll road from SH 183 to just north of IH 30, with six main lanes operational. In February, the North Texas Tollway Authority agreed tobuild the remainder of SH 161, from just north of IH 30 to IH 20, and provide the region $200 million in return.
Partners: TxDOT, NTTA

President George Bush Eastern Extension construction

Construction Snapshot
Improving Reliability: North Texas Projects Still to Come

Under Construction Soon: Southwest Parkway/Chisholm Trail Parkway

North Tarrant Express: NTE Mobility Partners will soon begin the process of easing the bottleneck in northeast Tarrant County. By 2015, the corridor’s capacity will be doubled with the construction of tolled express lanes along IH 820 and SH 121/SH 183. Similar improvements to IH 35W and SH 183 east of SH 121 are being planned for the future.
Partners: TxDOT, NTE Mobility Partners

LBJ Managed Lanes Project:The expansion of IH 635 is slated to begin within months. Tolled express lanes will be constructed between Luna Road and the High Five interchange. The existing freeway main lanes will be reconstructed and continuous frontage roads will be added in the corridor. The project also includes connection ramps for the HOV/managed lanes along IH 35E and Loop 12.
Partners: TxDOT, LBJ Infrastructure Group

Southwest Parkway/Chisholm Trail Parkway: Ground was broken earlier this year on the interchanges at IH 20 and US Highway 67, with construction on the roadway scheduled to begin later in 2010. When complete, this road will run from IH 30 in Fort Worth south to US 67 in Cleburne. The corridor will feature six lanes from downtown Fort Worth to Altamesa Boulevard and four lanes from Altamesa Boulevard to Cleburne. Partner: NTTA

Under Construction Soon: North Tarrant Express

Under Construction Soon: LBJ Managed Lanes

What's Next: Roadway Improvements

After decades of discussion and many attempts to move construction forward, SH 161 in Dallas County and Southwest Parkway/Chisholm Trail Parkway in Tarrant and Johnson counties are on track. In January, the Texas Transportation Commission voted to backstop SH 161, essentially serving as co-signer of the loans. In the process, NTTA, which will build the road, was able to take advantage of the state’s higher bond rating and save $400 million over the life of the loan. NTTA is moving closer to an agreement to build Southwest Parkway/ Chisholm Trail Parkway. A decision is expected later this year.

First Person: Ken Shetter
Mayor, City of Burleson

Briefly describe your daily commute, including how it's changed over the years. What options do you think would be most helpful to you and other Fort Worth-area commuters as you face daily rush hour traffic?

Ken Shetter has detected a willingness among residents to embrace passenger rail.

My daily commute is about 15 miles from my home in Burleson to downtown Fort Worth. The biggest change I perceive is that the commute time seems to be more unpredictablel than it was a few years ago.

I never know when I walk out the door if it is going to take me 30 minutes or an hour to get where I'm going. What would be most helpful to me would be a reliable transportation system where my travel times were more predictable. Necessarily, that would require a multimodal transportation system for my part of the region.

What regional options would best improve the reliability of the entire transportation system? Think of specific modes and other ways to get traffic moving.

A commuter rail system that serves the western part of the region would do the most to add reliability, at least in the west.

As mayor of a growing suburb, have you noticed a shift in people's attitudes about congestion and solutions to the problem?

I have absolutely noticed a shift in people’s attitudes about transportation. First, people in Burleson are more frustrated with congestion and commute times. On the positive side, they are more open to, and excited about, potential solutions. When I first started talking about bringing commuter rail to our community the typical response was, “Why do you think anybody in Burleson would use rail?” Today nobody ever questions whether it would work – they just want to know: “What can we do to make it happen, and when could it happen?”

The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the opinions, findings, and conclusions presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration or the Texas Department of Transportation. This document was prepared in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Trasnportation, Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration.