The Texas Department of Public Transportation approved nearly $30 million in funding to expand FM 423 from Eldorado Parkway to US 380, but construction was delayed almost immediately because of the need to relocate utilities.

Construction on the $29.8 million, 3.4-mile section of roadway was originally set to begin before the end of the year, but it has been pushed back about nine months, said Michelle Releford, public information officer for TxDOT.

The project bid was awarded in September, although the completion date has been moved back from January 2017 to sometime in 2018.

The final completion date depends on how long it takes to relocate utilites.

The Eldorado to US 380 section is the second FM 423 project delayed by utility relocations.

In 2011, TxDOT awarded a bid for a section farther south, from Hwy. 121 to south of Lebanon Road, but no work has been done. The southern section is also a $30 million project.

The two FM 423 projects still waiting to be started are sandwiched by a section south of Lebanon Road to just south of Eldorado that is "all but finished," Releford said.

She said it should be completed in December.

A rise in population in Frisco and neighboring Little Elm throughout the last 10 years has driven the need for the widening of FM 423, TxDOT officials said.

The improved roadway is being constructed with TxDOT money, not city of Frisco money.

"The north-south connection between Hwy. 121 and [US] 380 is critical to Frisco's future," said Mayor Maher Maso. "We continue to work with our neighboring communities and TxDOT to get this project finished as quickly as possible, as time is money."

Maso said Frisco residents, as well as many others in the region, use the connector for access to their homes and jobs, as well as other events.

"Project completion will fuel commerce along the 380 corridor, which will have a positive, lasting impact on the entire area," Maso said.

According to TxDOT, the Eldorado Parkway to US 380 section had an average daily traffic count of 12,800 in 2008. In 2012, that number had risen to 16,400.

In 2030, the road is projected to have 25,540 travelers per day.