Part of the Bergstrom Expressway project on US 183 South includes bike lanes and a shared-use path. Part of the Bergstrom Expressway project on US 183 South includes bike lanes and a shared-use path.[/caption]

The Bergstrom Expressway project will add a total of six toll lanes and six nontolled lanes between Hwy. 290 and SH 71. The Bergstrom Expressway project will add a total of six toll lanes and six nontolled lanes between Hwy. 290 and SH 71.[/caption]

Updated at 5 p.m. to provide additional information

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority awarded its largest design-build contract for the 183 South toll project that would help improve access to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

The Mobility Authority board awarded the $581.5 million design-build contract May 27 to Colorado River Constructors, a team of several design and engineering consultants led by Fluor Corp. and Balfour Beatty Construction. Other companies on the team include Austin-based MWM DesignGroup and Beverly Silas & Associates, the public involvement/public affairs group owned by Silas, who sits on the Capital Metro board of directors.

“These are large teams. This is a large project,” said Wes Burford, director of engineering for the Mobility Authority.

He added the CRC team’s cost estimate for design and construction is about 9 percent higher than the Mobility Authority’s initial estimate. The CRC team beat out two other teams for the contract.

Construction on the project—dubbed Bergstrom Expressway—will begin in early 2016 to add three toll lanes and three nontolled lanes in either direction on US 183 between Hwy. 290 and SH 71. Bike lanes and a shared-use path are also included as part of the project.

Other components of the project include reconstructing overpasses at Springdale Road, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Airport Boulevard; building direct connectors to SH 71; rehabilitating the bridge over the Colorado River; and adding a trailhead at the river for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The total project cost is about $750 million, which includes project development and oversight of design and construction. The first phase of the project from Hwy. 290 to Bolm Road will open in late 2019.

Besides boosting access to the airport, the roadway will also be a significant alternative route upon full completion in 2021 because of work the Texas Department of Transportation will be doing on I-35. For updates and more information, visit www.bergstromexpressway.com.