North Texas Tollway Authority
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| Authority overview | |
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| Formed | 1997 |
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| Jurisdiction | Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties, Texas |
| Authority executive |
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| Website | ntta |
The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) is an organization that maintains and operates toll roads, bridges and tunnels in the North Texas area. They also provide guaranteed fees, ranging from $50 to over $2000. Functioning as a political subdivision of the State of Texas under Chapter 366 of the Transportation Code, the NTTA is empowered to acquire, construct, maintain, repair and operate turnpike projects; to raise capital for construction projects through the issuance of turnpike revenue bonds; and to collect tolls to operate, maintain and pay debt service on those projects.
The NTTA is governed by a nine-member board of directors, two appointed by each of the four counties in its service area, and one appointed by the Texas Governor. It is a non-profit entity. It performs many of the same functions as the Texas Department of Transportation, but is limited solely to facilities that it operates for revenue.
NTTA was established in 1997 by Senate Bill 370. The legislation abolished the Texas Turnpike Authority (TTA), which had been an independent state agency, and established the Texas Turnpike Authority division of the Texas Department of Transportation. The bill established NTTA and made it the successor agency to TTA, assuming TTA's assets and liabilities. The bill authorized the establishment of other regional tollway authorities and established the laws by which they are governed.
TTA began construction on the state's first toll road, the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike, in 1955 and opened the road in 1957. Original plans were for the bonds on the Turnpike to be retired in 1995; however, the bonds were retired in 1977 (17 years ahead of schedule) and tolls were then removed from the road, which the next year was officially designated as Interstate-30 (I-30).
Construction began on NTTA's oldest existing toll road, the Dallas North Tollway, in 1966, and its first segment (from I-35E to I-635) was opened in 1968. The Tollway (as it is popularly known) has (along with general Dallas-area growth) expanded continually northward, opening extensions in 1987, 1994, and most recently in 2007.
TTA started construction in 1977 on its first toll bridge, the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) Mountain Creek Lake Bridge, which opened in 1979. The bridge spans Mountain Creek Lake in the southwestern Dallas County city of Grand Prairie.
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