The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is reporting a 26.3 percent increase in toll revenues thanks to the recent opening of the first phase of Hwy. 290 Manor Expressway and the extension of Toll 183A.

"[Hwy. 290] traffic has more than doubled what we were anticipating," Mobility Authority Controller Cindy Demers said.

The Mobility Authority is in charge of Toll 183A—the extension from FM 1431 in Cedar Park to FM 2243 in Leander opened in April 2012— and Hwy. 290 Manor Expressway. The first phase of the latter project opened in December with tolling beginning in early January.

The toll authority also is handling several other toll projects, such as the MoPac Improvement Project, which will add one toll lane in each direction from Parmer Lane to Lady Bird Lake, and the Y at Oak Hill project.

The toll authority anticipates completing the Manor Expressway project in 2014, and it will run from US 183 to east of Parmer Lane at full operation. According to data from Stantec Consulting Services Inc., there has been a weekday average of 20,274 toll transactions between Jan.7–March 29 on the first phase of the project. Projections from URS Corporation in 2011 indicated a weekday average of 10,079 toll transactions.

Demers said the increase in traffic on Toll 183A could be attributed to several feeder roads, such as San Gabriel Parkway and Hero Way in Leander, recently opening and allowing more access to the toll road. The weekday average number of toll transactions increased from 94,359 to 103,227 between January and March on Toll 183A, according to Stantec data.

The Mobility Authority is able to predict toll revenues for the coming year based on traffic and revenue forecast data from URS and Stantec, Demers said. She said that data also helped drive the fiscal year 2014 budget, which the Mobility Authority board of directors approved June 26. Total revenues for fiscal year 2014 are expected to be $40.46 million with expenses at $46.3 million.

The toll authority estimates receiving $32.4 million in toll revenue for fiscal year 2014 compared to $25.7 million in fiscal year 2013. Toll revenues were $22.4 million in fiscal year 2012.