Lake Forest Drive expansion

MCK-2017-04-10-01The city is widening Lake Forest Drive from two lanes to four lanes from Wilmeth Road to Bloomdale Road. A portion of Bloomdale east of the intersection of Bloomdale and Lake Forest will also be reconstructed.

City staff said construction has slowed as crews work to pull up existing pavement. Crews will have some existing lanes closed for about a month beginning in mid-March. Then work will begin on the connection with CR 162.

Timeline: September-June Cost: $3.7 million Funding source: city of McKinney

Virginia Parkway widening

MCK-2017-04-10-02The city of McKinney began construction Feb. 20 on the Virginia Parkway Lanes 5 & 6 widening project. The project will add an additional lane in each direction from just east of Ridge Road to US 75.

New traffic signals will be installed at Crutcher Crossing and Mallard Lakes Drive. In areas where the contractor is working, one lane of traffic may be closed between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays, and delays are expected. Construction began on the west end of the project between Ridge and Bellegrove Drive.

Crews began preliminary preparation work in mid-March, which includes setting up traffic-control barricades, tree protection and erosion control.

Timeline: February 2017-December 2018 Cost: $1.5 million Funding source: city of McKinney

Ongoing projects

The rehabilitation of Roberts Avenue from Graves Street to Morris Street will be started immediately after the work on Waddill Street is complete.

Estimated timeline: April-May

How it works

MCK-2017-04-10-03Electronic toll tag systems in Texas work interchangeably

In Texas, toll roads are operated by state, regional or county authorities, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

The Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Austin areas use one of three electronic toll-collection systems available in Texas—TxTag, TollTag or EZ Tag.

Toll roads in DFW, including the Dallas North Tollway, Sam Rayburn Tollway and President George Bush Turnpike, are operated by the North Texas Tollway Authority, which is a political subdivision sanctioned by the state. The NTTA uses the TollTag system.

In the Austin area, the Toll Operations Division of TxDOT operates the Central Texas Turnpike System. The TOD also operates portions of Grand Parkway in Houston and other toll roads throughout the state. TxDOT-operated toll roads use the TxTag system.

The Harris County Toll Road Authority and Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority operate toll roads in the Greater Houston area using the EZ Tag system.

Despite the different toll-collection systems in the state, a toll tag for any one of the three entities works interchangeably for the other two systems.

Payments are automatically deducted from a user’s account each time a driver passes under a toll gantry as long as the driver has a toll tag. Drivers without a toll tag will be billed separately by each tolling authority.