Link to article here. Read about the tax-and-spend free-for-all saga here.
Tollway agency approves deal with TxDOT on Highway 161
Sunday, April 20, 2008
By MICHAEL LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News
The North Texas Tollway Authority on Sunday unanimously approved a deal with the Texas Department of Transportation that sets the value of the State Highway 161 toll road at about $1.1 billion.
The vote ratifies a compromise reached Friday after leaders from both agencies met behind closed doors with key legislators to end a stalemate that had threatened to stall or even cancel plans to build the approximately 10-mile toll road in western Dallas County.
TxDOT spokesman Chris Lippincott said Sunday that TxDOT leadership already had ratified the agreement and had been awaiting approval by NTTA’s board, which held an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon to vote on the deal.
Construction contracts for the road already have been awarded, and work is expected to begin Monday.
NTTA has promised to decide by mid-summer whether it will build the toll road itself or step aside and let TxDOT contract with a private firm to build it.