FHWA loan launches Central Texas Turnpike Project - Management and Administration

Public Roads, Nov-Dec, 2002

In a continued effort to employ innovative financing techniques to help surface transportation projects move forward, FHWA closed on a $916.76 million loan to the Texas Transportation Commission. The loan will help fund the $3.6 billion first phase of the Central Texas Turnpike Project, a toll highway facility through central Texas.

The turnpike project spans a travel area that is vital to the safety and mobility of drivers in central Texas and is composed of three distinct elements. The 5.6-kilometer (3.5-mile) Loop 1 will serve as a major north-south route in the Austin vicinity. A 21.2-kilometer (13.2-mile) stretch of State Highway (SH) 45 North will serve as a connector between the cities of Austin, Round Rock, and Pflugerville. The final element is the northern segment of SH-130, a 78.9-kilometer (49-mile) stretch of roadway that will provide an eastern bypass for Austin, TX, and is parallel to and east of 1-35, one of the more congested urban parts of the interstate.

Gabby Garcia, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), says that this is "one of the largest and most anticipated construction projects going on across the State, and things are moving quickly. We're planning to break ground in early 2003."

The Turnpike Authority Division of TxDOT is managing the project. TxDOT retained a general consultant engineer and two engineering firms to assist with managing the construction project. Loop 1 and SH-45 will be constructed using the traditional design-bid-build process, and SH-130 is under an exclusive development agreement with Lone Star Infrastructure, a consortium of engineering and construction firms. The turnpike will open in segments, with the completed project opening to traffic in December 2007.