New Toll Roads
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The construction of toll roads is really not new to Texas, and Dallas and Houston have had toll roads for many, many years. While most people think of non-toll roads as "free" roads, it's important to remember that every time you put gas in your car, part of the price per gallon you pay is a tax that goes to build and maintain highways.
Over the years, the gas tax has not increased, but traffic on Texas highways has – dramatically. That means the current gas tax revenue falls short of statewide transportation needs, making it no longer sufficient to handle the state's mobility challenges.
Our Commitment to Texans
In all the discussion about toll roads, it is important to remember two main points:
- We will never convert an existing road into a toll road unless local voters approve it
- There will always be a free, non-tolled alternative
While an existing road can be expanded to include tolled lanes, the original number of lanes will not be tolled, meaning this is not a conversion. It is an expansion of capacity paid for by tolling.
Additionally, drivers will still have a choice of which lanes to use. In cases where the department develops an entirely new footprint, such as SH 130 in Austin, there will not be non-tolled alternatives, since that corridor did not previously exist. However, again, this is a new choice, and not a reduction of free lanes.
Benefits of Toll Roads
A Choice to Go Faster
Drive in any major Texas city during morning or afternoon rush hour, and you know the situation: highways that look like parking lots. When it comes to roads, drivers need a choice to get them out of congestion and gridlock.
Pay as You Go
Highways in Texas have traditionally been funded with gas taxes. Since state and federal gas taxes no longer generate enough money to build and maintain the current system to appropriate capacity levels, tolls are another option that have the advantage of charging only those who use the roads.
More Roads, More Choices, More Time
The population in Texas continues to grow, and so is the demand for new and better roads. Tolls can supplement highway funds in the fight against congestion; with cash upfront, miles of toll roads can be finished faster than highways funded simply by gas taxes. Tolling also provides motorists more routes and more time-saving choices.
A Choice of Routes
New toll roads and express toll lanes are under construction or on the drawing board throughout Texas. Some highways are being built as toll roads from the start, and others are being expanded by adding new toll lanes to existing roads. Drivers will soon have the option of bypassing congestion by using Texas tollways. And drivers who prefer not to pay a toll will always have a non-tolled alternative.
Helping the Region
Toll roads will bring in revenues to help maintain existing highways and fund more transportation projects within the local area without additional taxes.
Sooner is Better than Later
Toll roads and toll lanes give drivers a much-needed option to get where they want to go. With tolling, we can begin to solve our traffic problems now, without motorists having to pay higher gas taxes.
Toll Road Successes
Travel along 183A, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority's first project, is off to a great start. The CTRMA opened the toll road in March 2007, and it has exceeded expectations, so much so that the future expansion to the north will begin sooner than later.
RMA officials have awarded a design and engineering services contract for 4.5-mile northern extension. Twenty-one firms were vying for the project. Read more ....
Austin
SH 130 will be a new 49-mile tollway located east of I-35 through Williamson and Travis counties as indicated on this map. The southly extension of SH 130 will form a 40-mile link through Travis, Caldwell and Guadalupe counties to I-10 near Seguin as indicated on this map.
SH 45 North will be approximately 13 miles long, the map shows it extending from Ridgeline Boulevard west of US 183 eastward to SH 130.
Loop 1 is approximately three miles long extending from Parmer Lane to SH 45 North as indicated on this map.
183A is part of the Mobility Authority’s inaugural project comprised of the Loop1 extension, SH 45 North and SH 130, as seen on this map.
Dallas
SH 121 extends northeasterly from State Highway Business 121 near the Dallas/Denton County line to U.S. 75 IN Collin County, a total length of approximately 26 miles as indicated on this map.
Dallas North Tollway is a 32-mile , six-lane, limited access expressway passing through or along the cities of Dallas, Highland Park, University Park, Addison, Farmers Branch, Plano and Frisco as evidenced by this map .
President George Bush Turnpike The President George Bush Turnpike (PGBT) offers a significant east-west route in the northern half of the Dallas Metroplex. The system map will help you pinpoint this particular roadway.
Addison Airport Toll Tunnell (AATT) is a two-lane tunnel crossing under the Addison Airport as illustrated by this map .
Mountain Creek Lake Bridge(MCLB) in southwest Dallas County provides a direct east-west crossing of Mountain Creek Lake between the Oak Cliff section of Dallas and the city of Grand Prairie. This map provides location information for the MCLB.
Houston
Sam Houston Tollway is the name given to the tolled sections of Beltway 8, a highway loop around Houston running clockwise from the Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge in the east to I-45 North. As seen on the map, the Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8) creates a second loop around the city of Houston.
Westpark Tollway extends from the intersection of Post Oak Boulevard at Richmond to Highway 6 benefiting west and southwest Houston communities as seen on this map.
Fort Bend Parkway connects the Sam Houston Tollway with State Highway 6 in the eastern part of Harris County as seen on this map .
Hardy Toll Road runs from I-45, north of Houston just below the Harris County line, to I- 610, near central Houston as seen on this map .
Tyler
Loop 49 was initially constructed as a two-lane roadway with one lane traveling in each direction. As construction progresses, Loop 49 will be a four-lane divided highway similar to Interstate 20 near Tyler as seen on this map.
Managed Lanes
Managed lanes are a strategy - a tool - to manage traffic and provide reliable mobility. Motorists using the managed lanes benefit from added capacity and those who choose to use the managed lanes free up capacity for the benefit of the general purpose lanes.
Traffic speed and volume dictate the pricing, which will vary throughout a 24-hour period. Motorists using the managed lanes should expect to maintain speeds at a minimum of 50 mph during peak periods.
Houston
Katy Freeway/I-10 provides a managed lanes system running east-west between I-610/West Loop and SH 6 in the Houston area as indicated by the map.
Dallas
I-635 LBJ Freeway provides managed lanes east-west across the north Dallas metro area as seen on this map.
Fort Worth
North Tarrant Express involves adding toll lanes and untolled general purpose lanes to contiguous segments of I-820, SH 183 and I-35W in Tarrant County northeast of Fort Worth and northwest of Dallas. The individual segments may be viewed on the project map .
