Developers who rebuilt Highway 183 and North Loop 820 in Northeast Tarrant County in 2014 are now making plans to expand the two highways again. The project was the first in Texas to include lanes with variable tolls, known as "TEXpress Lanes."
Tolls increase during times of peak demand to deter additional drivers. The variable tolls aim to maintain an average speed of at least 50 miles an hour.
"It's been an exciting time," says North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners' Robert Hinkle. "Watching that economic development has been incredible."
Since TEXpress lanes opened, new restaurants and shops have opened along each highway. Hinkle says those businesses have succeeded because managed lanes can provide a predictable drive-time regardless of the time of day. He says many users may also be trying to reach appointments or DFW Airport for a flight, but regular users of TEXpress lanes have been delivery drivers and contractors.
"If I can use those toll lanes, pay four dollars and do four jobs before lunch instead of three, if I'm a plumber, I just made extra money," he says. "It cost me four dollars extra to do it. It makes business sense."
Hinkle says NTE Mobility Partners are now working with TxDOT to plan the expansion. The company will then secure financing and could start construction in 2024.
The project would add one free lane in each direction on 820 from Highway 183 to 35W. A managed lane would be added on 183 eastbound from 820 to Industrial Boulevard in Euless.
"It was prebuilt to include these capacity improvements," Hinkle says. "It won't be nearly as disruptive, but it'll be construction. Construction's construction."
NTE Mobility Partners is now securing financing for the project, which could cost $300 to $350 million. Construction could start in 2024 and is likely to last up to three years. Hinkle says the company built the original highway in 2014 with an expansion in mind, but they are carrying out the plan five years earlier than anticipated.
"My guess is that's because everybody's moving to North Texas," he says. "They're bringing cars and kids with them. There's going to be a lot more traffic out there moving all those extra bodies around."
Hinkle says NTE Mobility Partners reached an agreement with the North Central Texas Council of Governments and has volunteered to limit peak tolls. When tolls reach a certain level, he says the company turns off the algorithm that adjusts tolls, and the tolls are set manually.
"We call it, 'mandatory mode,'" he says. "When the rates get to a certain point, we stop it so they can't go any higher even though cars are still adding themselves to the corridor."
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