CENTRAL TEXAS REGIONAL MOBILITY AUTHORITY
History
In October 2002, the Texas Transportation Commission approved the state's first regional mobility authority (RMA), the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (Mobility Authority). Travis and Williamson counties requested the RMA so that there would be a local mechanism to finance needed transportation projects. RMAs were authorized by the 77th Legislature and approved by Texas voters as a way to accelerate needed transportation projects.
During the 78th Legislative Session, Representative Mike Krusee (R-Round Rock) and Senator Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) authored HB 3588, an Omnibus Transportation Bill that related to the construction, acquisition, financing, maintenance, management, operation, ownership, and control of transportation facilities and the progress, improvement, policing, and safety of transportation in the state. On June 22, 2003, Governor Rick Perry signed HB 3588 into law.
The first project for the Mobility Authority was the US 183A toll road. The Mobility Authority broke ground on 183A in early 2005 and opened the road on March 3, 2007. The project's funding came primarily through the sale of toll revenue bonds. 183A is an 11.6-mile, $238 million toll road paralleling U.S. 183 east of Cedar Park and Leander. It runs from RM 620 at US 183 to US 183 at the south San Gabriel River. The toll road features all electronic tolling, and a portion of 183A near Lakeline Mall Drive only accepts electronic payments via TxTag, Dallas' Tolltag or Houston's EZ-Tag.
The Mobility Authority has begun toll enforcement on 183A. Portions of 183A are all electronic and require a TxTag, Dallas TollTag or Houston EZ-Tag. To learn more about the all electronic gantry and other features of 183A, click here and take a virtual test drive. Find out how to get a TxTag to take advantage of the extra savings at www.txtag.org. For more information about toll financed projects, please visit www.mobilityauthority.org.
In late summer 2007, the Mobility Authority entered into a partnership with the Lady Bird Wildflower Center in Austin to do a demonstration project planting wildflowers along US 183A.
On October 8, 2007, CAMPO approved a number of amendments to the Central Texas 2030 Long-Range Transportation Plan and the FY 2008-2011 Transportation Improvement Program. The amendments included five toll projects. Click here for a map showing the five approved toll projects, which are shaded in pink. Construction of these projects will begin in phases between 2009 and 2011. Under project development agreements with TxDOT, the Mobility Authority will construct, maintain, and operate all of these toll roads. The five projects are:
1. US Highway 290 East from east of US Highway 183 to east of State Highway 130
2. US Highway 183 South from Springdale Road to State Highway 71 East
3. State Highway 71 East from west of Riverside Drive to east of Presidential Blvd.
4. 'Y' at Oak Hill
5. State Highway 45 Southwest from Loop 1 (MoPac) South to FM 1626
TxDOT Toll Projects: A number of other toll projects in Central Texas have been constructed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) as part of the 65-mile Central Texas Turnpike project. The projects began opening in phases in November 2006. To date, more than 60 miles of the Central Texas Turnpike Project have opened. All of the projects are owned and operated by TxDOT.
- Loop 1 North is a 3.5-mile northern extension of Loop 1 (MoPac) that connects this important north-south artery to State Highway 45 and I-35 in Round Rock. The project was opened in November 2006.
- SH 45 North is a 13.2-mile east-west route in southern Williamson County, from west of US Highway 183 in Cedar Park to State Highway 130 east of Round Rock. The project opened in phases between November 2006 and April 2007.
- SH 130 is a 49-mile north-south alternative to I-35. The project runs between I-35 in Georgetown and US Highway 183 near Creedmoor, and will eventually continue south to I-10 in Seguin. The project began opening in phases in December 2006. The fourth segment, 8.7 miles from State Highway 71 to US Highway 183 near Mustang Ridge, opened April 30, 2008. The fifth and sixth segments connecting to I-10 near Seguin will be built by TxDOT's San Antonio district.
- In July, 2007, TxDOT began work on State Highway 45 Southeast, a 7.4-mile toll road that will run from State Highway 130 near Mustang Ridge west to I-35, completing the eastern bypass around Austin. The road is expected to open in Spring 2009. Until this segment is open, drivers looking to avoid I-35 traffic in Austin will have to use FM 1327 to connect from State Highway 130 to I-35.
Currently, Central Texas has 57 miles of toll roads open. TxDOT's 3.5-mile Loop 1 North, 13.2-mile State Highway 45 North, and 40.3 miles of the State Highway 130 project from I-35 north of Georgetown to State Highway 71 near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport are all open.
The Mobility Authority, in its effort to develop innovative financing options for projects, pre-qualified the 11 firms that responded to their Request for Statement of Interest (RFI). The firms responding were: Citigroup; Balfour Beatty Capital; Lehman Brothers; Global Capital; Morgan Stanley; UBS; JPMorgan; Depfa Bank; Merrill Lynch; Goldman Sachs; and Cintra-Zachry. Financial advisors from both Travis and Williamson counties, along with bond counsel for Travis County, assisted the Mobility Authority in evaluating the proposals.
On Wednesday, April 30, 2008, the Board of Directors of Mobility Authority voted to accept JP Morgan as their investment firm to work on the private investment piece of financing for the five toll projects approved by CAMPO in October of 2007. While the Mobility Authority finalizes its agreement with JPMorgan, it will also be working on approval of a Federal TIFIA loan (as used on the Central Texas Turnpike Project), discerning what state funds may be available, and finalizing a short-term bank loan underwritten by US 183A revenues that will keep engineering and environmental work rolling until permanent financing is available. The weighted average for permanent debt for the next toll roads should be an attractive 5.3 to 6 percent.
On Thursday, May 29, 2008, the Texas Transportation Commission voted 4-1 to approve a master development agreement with the Mobility Authority to develop the toll road projects in the CAMPO Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The previous individual project development agreements in place for the Mobility Authority to construct, maintain, and operate these projects were terminated when TxDOT announced a moratorium on spending.
The master development agreement authorizes the Mobility Authority to move forward to develop these projects. The Mobility Authority plans to borrow $65 million to continue the necessary preliminary engineering and market valuation studies on all the projects.
The US 290 East project, the Manor Expressway, is ahead of the others in the completion of pre-construction work and it will likely be the first project to begin construction sometime in 2009. Construction on the $623.5 million Manor Expressway, a 6.2-mile limited-access toll road intended to alleviate congestion in the US 290 East corridor between Parmer Lane and US 183, could be open to traffic by 2013. The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) Board voted 15-3 to approve a financing system for US Highway 290 East, the Manor Expressway, at its meeting on Monday, December 1, 2008. The Mobility Authority, which operates the US Highway 183A toll road and will build and operate the Manor Expressway, received approval to use the existing Highway 183A toll road as a co-signer for the Manor Expressway toll road project, allowing quicker construction and lower toll rates.
Resources
Mobility Crisis in Central Texas, a presentation by Mobility Authority Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein at the RECA Lunch on Thursday, October 5, 2006
183A Traffic and Revenue Study (PowerPoint)
Central Texas Mobility Crisis (PowerPoint / 1.2 MB)--Presented by Mobility Authority Executive Director Mike Heligenstein at the January 27, 2004 RECA Membership Luncheon.
Top 5 Myths About Tolling in Texas
