@gdickson
Relief is on the way for motorists who deal with traffic headaches on Interstate 35E between Dallas and Denton.
A developer team has been picked to rebuild the corridor, with additional free lanes, toll lanes and better frontage roads.
AGL Constructors was selected earlier this month by the Texas Transportation Commission. The developer includes Archer Western Contractors LLC (Atlanta), Granite Construction Co. (Watsonville, Calif.) and The LANE Construction Co. (Cheshire, Conn.)
About $1 billion in public funds is available for the project, including roughly $535 million that Denton County is chipping in from its share of the region's toll revenue.
The construction work between LBJ Freeway in the Dallas/Carrollton area and the I-35E/35W split in Denton is expected to begin during the next year and be completed by late 2016.
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The corridor is considered one of the 100 Most Congested Roadways in the state - with about 200,000 vehicles per day - according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
The total cost of rebuilding the corridor will be in the $4.8 billion range, and that work will be done as funds become available.
“As we continue to face challenges with transportation funding, public/private partnerships such as this one will remain essential components for addressing our state’s mobility needs and spurring our economic prosperity,” Texas Transportation Commissioner Bill Meadows of Fort Worth said in a statement. “We are excited to see momentum on I-35E and hope to provide Texas drivers with some much-needed traffic congestion relief sooner than later.”
Transportation department executive director Phil Wilson added: “These projects represent significant milestones in helping build out our infrastructure and providing more options to move people and goods around our great state.”
The A-train commuter line connecting Denton to the Dallas-area transit system also runs along the I-35E corridor.
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