The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, which oversees toll roads in Central Texas, approved two environmental contracts for the MoPac South Project and US 183 North Project that could add toll lanes to those existing roads.

On March 27, the Mobility Authority's board of directors approved a $5.99 million contract for environmental and preliminary engineering services with Austin-based Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. for the MoPac South Project, which will study mobility solutions on MoPac from Cesar Chavez Street to SH 45.

The board also approved an environmental and preliminary engineering contract with Dallas-based civil engineering and design firm CP&Y for the 183 North Project, which could add one or two toll lanes in the median of US 183 between MoPac and RM 620. Wes Burford, the Mobility Authority's director of engineering, said the company was selected out of a short list of four.

"They knocked it out of the park, quite frankly, in the interview," he said. "... I feel like we're in very good hands."

Mobility Authority Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein said CH2M Hill, the firm hired for the MoPac Improvement Project—which will add a toll lane in each direction from Parmer Lane to Cesar Chavez—will work with CP&Y early in the 183 North Project. He said this is to work out how the express lanes will be incorporated into the US 183/MoPac interchange. He said the Mobility Authority is still unsure whether the two roads have the capacity to allow drivers from the proposed express lane on US 183 to directly enter the MoPac express lane.

"That's going to be a very important transition if it can be made at all," Heiligenstein said. "We're managing our expectations."

The Mobility Authority received funding from the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization for the project.

CP&Y has had an office in Austin for 16 years and has provided environmental work for various projects in Central Texas, including the Bergstrom Expressway Project on US 183 South, I-35 and the MoPac Improvement Project.

MoPac Improvement Project

The board of directors also held a public hearing for the contract with CH2M Hill, which will be in charge of construction for the MoPac Improvement Project that will add one toll lane. That project is slated to go under construction this summer.

The toll roads will have two segments, and besides being able to enter the express lanes at Parmer or Cesar Chavez, drivers will enter or exit the express lanes near RM 2222 and Far West Boulevard. The minimum toll will be $0.25 for one segment or $0.50 for the entire 11.2 miles. Tolls are not expected to exceed $4.

The agency received $197.6 million in the form of a grant from the Texas Department of Transportation for the project.