NTE ADVANCES CAPACITY IMPROVEMENTS ALONG SH 183, I-820 TO FURTHER RELIEVE CONGESTION
Project achieves financial close with construction activities to begin before year-end
FORT WORTH (August 11, 2023) – NTE Mobility Partners (NTEMP), a subsidiary of Austin-based Cintra, will begin work on the capacity improvements to the SH 183 and Interstate 820 highway corridors before the end of 2023, having achieved financial close on the project today.
As part of NTEMP’s original Comprehensive Development Agreement (CDA) with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the state of Texas, NTEMP agreed to expand the highway when certain traffic volume milestones were met.
“Traffic volumes have continued to increase alongside the explosive population growth in Tarrant County,” said Jose Espinosa, CEO of NTEMP. “In addition to more people using the free, general-purpose lanes than expected, we have far eclipsed our initial projections on utilization of the TEXpress managed lanes, triggering the next phase of expansion along these critical highways.”
The annual average daily traffic along the SH 183 and I-820 corridors has increased by 50 percent since pre-construction levels. Yet, even with the increase in traffic counts, the average speed along the corridor remains high: an average of 62 mph (general-purpose and managed lanes combined) and 70 mph in the managed lanes, even during rush hour.
Under the agreement, NTEMP will expand the 13-mile corridor that traverses six municipalities in Tarrant County. The $414 million capacity improvement project will include the following:
- Adding one additional general-purpose (free) lane in each direction along I-820 between SH 121/183 in North Richland Hills and I-35W in Fort Worth (Segment 1)
- Adding one additional TEXpress managed lane in each direction along SH 183 between Industrial Blvd. in Euless and I-820 in North Richland Hills (Segment 2W)
The project will be funded by the equity participants, Cintra (63%) and Meridiam (37%), which were equity holders in the initial North Tarrant Express Segments 1 and 2W project. No taxpayer funds will be required to advance and complete this expansion, a significant advantage to P3 (public-private partnership) projects.
Construction will be performed by North Tarrant Infrastructure, a joint-venture between Ferrovial Construction and Webber. Early activities, including installing construction barriers and striping lanes, will begin in late 2023 with full construction underway in mid-2024. Most of the construction activities will be undertaken overnight to minimize disruption to users. The project is scheduled to take 42 months, with completion anticipated in early 2027.
Initial construction to expand the highly congested SH 183 and I-820 highway corridors began in 2010, with the rebuilt corridors opening in October 2014 well ahead of schedule. NTE Mobility Partners went on to rebuild I-35W from downtown Fort Worth to Eagle Parkway in Alliance, the last section of which opened this past June, 3 months ahead of schedule and at zero cost to taxpayers.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Robert Hinkle
Director of Corporate Affairs
(817) 821-7602