$1.6 Billion North Tarrant Express Drives Forward

The NTE project could start as early as late 2010.

North Tarrant Express on Fast Track

The Texas Transportation Commission selected North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners to plan, finance, design, construct, operate and maintain 13 mi of Northeast Loop Interstate 820 and SH 121/183 in Tarrant County. The stretch will be known as the North Tarrant Express.

North Tarrant Express, (courtesy of TxDOT, Fort Worth District.)

The project, pending financial finalization, consists of a series of improvements primarily along IH-820 and SH-121/183 between IH-35 West and Industrial Boulevard just beyond the SH-121/183 split in North Tarrant County. The objective is to relieve congestion, improve safety and provide for anticipated traffic growth in the rapidly developing region. Construction is expected to start in late 2010 and be on fast track for completion by 2015.

The award is conditional until the team's successful financial close, expected by the end of 2009. In 2010, right-of-way acquisition and construction is scheduled to begin. IH-820 received environmental clearance from the Federal Highway Administration in December.

NTE Mobility Partners will provide assistance to the TxDOT planning any additional, future improvements, primarily along IH-820 and IH-35 West.

The NTE Mobility Partner firms already plan to use Dallas-Fort Worth area and Texas companies on the project.

The partnership is led by Austin-based Cintra US and Paris, France-based Meridiam Infrastructure, a public-private partnership investor/developer of public facilities. The team also includes the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System, Houston-based W.W. Webber LLC and Los Angeles-based AECOM.

NTE Mobility Partners has proposed $1.6 billion in highway improvements within the next five years plus an estimated $450 million for operation and maintenance. The potential total initial investment to the region is more than $2 billion.

"This billion dollar partnership will fast track the North Tarrant Express," Michael Peters, spokesperson TxDOT's Fort Worth District, told Texas Construction. "This North Tarrant Express will be the largest and most complex transportation improvement project in the history of Tarrant County."

The goal of the NTE project is to improve the efficiency of the highway corridor by offering drivers the choice of bypassing congestion in the general purpose lanes to travel on new high-speed managed lanes. The project will provide reconstruction of interchanges and upgrade existing facilities to current standards.

The duration of the concession agreement for the project is 52 years; at the end of the lease term, the operation and maintenance responsibility for the roadway will be returned to TxDOT. Tolls on the new expressway, by law, will be set through the life of the project in accordance with a methodology set by TxDOT.

"The remaining segments of the North Tarrant Express are not yet funded, but NTE Mobility Partners will work with TxDOT to create a master plan to further define financial and development plans for those segments," Peters says. "NTE Mobility Partners' initial concepts show an aggressive outlook for these segments, but will be further defined by the end of 2010."

TxDOT will retain ownership of these state roadways and will conduct regular reviews/audits to ensure a quality project and operations. Through the development of this comprehensive development agreement, or CDA, the local cities, Tarrant County and the North Central Texas Council of Governments' Regional Transportation Council gave significant input on the North Tarrant Express and on many of the agreement's details, such as the managed lane toll policy. The importance of local involvement will continue to be vital as the rest of the corridor is planned for development.

$4 Billion LBJ Freeway Re-Development Project Slated to Start

TxDOT is evaluating proposals from two private-sector development teams vying for the New LBJ Freeway project on IH-635 between US 75 and IH-35E in Dallas. The LBJ Mobility Group and LBJ Development Partners - each comprised of several private companies - recently submitted proposals to develop the $4 billion project. At press time, a selection was to be announced in March.

LBJ Mobility Group is made up of Dragados USA Inc.; ACS Infrastructure Development Inc.; Kiewit Texas Construction LP; Zachry Construction Corp; Granite Construction Corp.; AECOM USA Group Inc.; SICE; Dr. G. Sauer Corp.; Steer Davies Gleave; and ING.

LBJ Development Partners includes Cintra, S.A.; Ferrovial Agroman S.A.; W.W. Webber Inc.; Bridgefarmer & Associates Inc.; Meridiam Infrastructure Finance and Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc.

The project will be constructed using a comprehensive development agreement, or CDA, or as a public-private partnership, with the developer providing a significant portion of the financing.

The massive development is the largest of its kind in the United States. The project involves rebuilding the existing eight lanes of the LBJ Freeway and adding six managed toll lanes. The winning developer will design, build, maintain and operate the roadway for 52 years. The project is expected to begin in the fall and be completed in about five years.

Ranger Excavating Wins $4.7 Million Contract in West Texas

An Austin area contractor was awarded a state contract to build a three-mi section of the new SH 349 Reliever Route northwest of Midland -the second phase of the 16-mi project to connect FM 1788 with SH 349 north of the city.

Ranger Excavating LP of Austin submitted a $4.7 million bid that was 32% under the department's $6.9 million engineering estimate for the project. Work could be under way this month. There are 179 working days allotted to the project, which includes work on FM 1788 north of SH 191 and an interchange at FM 1788 and the new roadway.

Six of the seven firms bidding the job submitted bids below the state estimate.

The project is described as a reliever route to reduce commercial truck traffic congestion on Loop 250 in Midland and as the first section of the La Entrada al Pacifico trade corridor in the United States.

Jones Bros. Dirt & Paving Contractors Inc. of Odessa, was the successful bidder for the first phase with $10 million and is already working on the 13.2-mi stretch of highway from SH 158 to SH 349 north of Midland. That construction has been under way since August, with work on two large drainage structures, a city of Midland project under state oversight that is also being built by Jones Bros.

The 16-mi connector has been promoted by the Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance, or MOTRAN, as the first link in an eventual trade route spanning from the Pacific Ocean in western Mexico through the Midland-Odessa area to the American heartland. The La Entrada al Pacifico route runs from the port of Topolobampo in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, through Chihuahua City and Presidio-Ojinaga to the Midland-Odessa area. The Texas portion of the route was designated in 1997 by the Texas Legislature.

A 36-mi section skirting the Pegues Mountains south of Ojinaga was built in the state of Chihuahua connecting Federal 16 with State 67 in Mexico and opened as a toll road in 2003.

TxDOT Experimenting With Four-Day Work Weeks

Starting Feb. 1, Odessa's local Texas Department of Transportation maintenance office began working longer hours in February. The four-days week is part of an experiment designed to test whether the new work schedule can improve TxDOT's safety record and save the state money.

Under the new plan, all maintenance section employees in TxDOT's 12-county Odessa District, including office managers and supervisors, will work a four-day, 10-hour schedule Monday through Thursday.

TxDOT's district office employees will remain on the traditional five-day schedule and maintenance sections will be available for call-outs on Fridays.

The new schedule reduces the number of traffic control setups each week by 20%. Maintenance employees are vulnerable to accidents while setting up for work and when picking up after. The schedule introduces the potential for a savings in utility costs for the offices.

The schedule will be re-evaluated at the end of the department's fiscal year.

Construction Under Way on $31 Million FM 1472 Overpass at IH-35

Arlington-based Rosiek Construction Inc. crews will execute a series of five construction phases in the construction of the $31 million FM 1472 southbound overpass at IH 35 in Laredo-Webb County.

Among the phases planned include improvements to a drainage system to complement new ramp alignments; installation of shoring towers in preparation for SB connector steel girder installation; installation of steel girders for SB connector; installation of traffic barriers on IH-35 SB main lanes for closure of Mann Road exit ramp to construct ramp reversal; and installation of traffic barriers on IH-35 SB Main lanes for closure of Del Mar entrance to IH-35 SB ramp to construct ramp reversal.

US 90 Pecos River Bridge Rehabilitation Project About One-Third Done

To facilitate bridge rehabilitation construction work, a one-way traffic pattern with a traffic signal is was implemented on U.S. 90 in Val Verde County for repairs of the Pecos River Bridge, 45 mi northwest of Del Rio.

The $4.25 million project was about one-third complete in late January with an April 2010 targeted completion date. The contractor - SCR Construction of Richmond - poured the 240-foot plate girder span and 156 feet of the 1040 deck truss span. The next 156 feet of the deck has been removed and the contractor is working on the forming. All of this work is on the eastbound lane. Once completed, the traffic will be switch, and work will begin on the westbound lane.

The project began Aug. 18 on the picturesque bridge, which was built in 1957. It is 1,300 ft long and stands 270 ft above water.

TxDOT Replacing Comanche Creek Bridge Under Federal Program

Demolition began earlier this year on the Comanche Creek bridge on U.S. 285 on the city's southeast side near county-owned James A. Rooney Park, according to TxDOT.

The bridge will be constructed in half-widths so that traffic can continue to use the roadway, with a concrete traffic barrier separating the construction from the remaining travel lanes. Construction/demolition has begun on the east side of the bridge.

The contractor's schedule calls for the project to be completed in August. The second phase of the demolition and construction of the east side of the bridge will begin in June, barring any unforeseen difficulty.

The contractor will be replacing a 1950-era bridge modified in 1963 and again in 1972 with new 375-ft, six-span bridge; widening travel lanes from 11-to-12 ft; and widening shoulders from one-to-eight ft.

The existing bridge is deteriorating and needs to be replaced. In addition, the roadway needs to be widened to the north and south of the bridge to match the proposed bridge width.

The project will cost $2.2 million, which was 21.7% under the engineer's estimate. The funding comes from a federal program to repair bridges nationwide. The program was set up following the collapse of the IH-35 bridge in Minneapolis two years ago.

The contract was let in October and awarded to Villa & Sons Construction of Odessa.

Major Traffic Switches on $100 Million Big 6 Project

A $100.3 million dollar widening project designed to create a major traffic switch at SH 6 between FM 159 and the Navasota River began earlier this year by TJ Lambrecht Construction Co. of Joliet, Ill. This entire project is expected to be complete in the spring of 2010.

Over the course of a few weeks, both northbound and southbound traffic lanes were switched while traffic continued on at least one lane.