The Texas Department of Transportation began collecting tolls July 7 on the DFW Connector TEXpress lanes that stretch 4 miles on SH 114 from just west of SH 26 to east of International Parkway.

The managed lanes on the Connector opened in the spring. They run parallel to the reconstructed main lanes and frontage roads of the Connector and offer drivers the option to pay a variable toll to bypass traffic.

Lanes were open at zero cost for a temporary introductory period that allowed TxDOT to continue testing tolling equipment and drivers to learn the access points to the tolled section of the highway.

The DFW Connector TEXpress lanes are part of the $1.02 billion Connector project that reached substantial completion at the end of 2013. The project consisted of 8.5 miles of construction throughout four highways including SH 114 and SH 121, two interchanges and more than three dozen bridges.