The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority celebrated the ground breaking Oct. 18 of the MoPac Improvement Project designed to aid mobility by adding one tolled express lane in each direction between Parmer Lane and Cesar Chavez Street.

The Mobility Authority is overseeing the project, which will provide reliable transportation and an alternative to congestion for drivers who use the new express lanes, CTRMA Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein said.

"It's a great example of what we can do in a more expanded system in our region," he said.

Ray Wilkerson, the Mobility Authority board's chairman, said the project represents many firsts, such as the first time an environmental study was completed in two years. He said it also is the first time in the country that express lanes will be built through a public partnership. The whole community, including the county and the city, collaborated to push the project through, Wilkerson said.

"A project as sensitive as this, it needs all the cooperation we can get," he said.

The public partnership is with the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which coordinates the region's transportation efforts. CAMPO helped secure $130 million in funding for the $200 million project. The agreement with CAMPO will allow toll revenues to fund future infrastructure projects.

"It's no secret there's no money out there," Wilkerson said. "We've got to approach transportation in another way."

Preliminary work on the MoPac project will begin in November to set up the construction zone, with major construction officially beginning in December. The Mobility Authority has about $1.2 billion worth of projects in its pipeline. This summer, the agency started the environmental study for the MoPac South project from Lady Bird Lake to Slaughter Lane.

Mayor Lee Leffingwell said that the majority of traffic heading southbound on MoPac continues on over Lady Bird Lake.

"We have to face that fact and address it in the future," he said.

Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe said that in the 10 years since the Mobility Authority's creation, it has revolutionized the way the region plans, designs, finances, builds and operates projects in Central Texas. MoPac improvements stalled in 2002 because of controversy, he said, but three years ago the agency and Texas Department of Transportation come together with a plan for a better MoPac.

"In road-building time, it's quite amazing that here we are today, just three short years later, ready to begin construction on what is one of the most important corridors in our region," he said. " We all know that this one project will not solve all of our region's transportation problems, but this project will give us new options to travel one of our region's busiest corridors."