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New Toll Roads Fuel Economic Development  The recent openings of the new Eastern Extension of the President George Bush Turnpike through the cities of Garland, Sachse and Rowlett and the final interchange section of the Sam Rayburn Tollway mean more than just a quicker commute for area motorists.
Toll roads built by the NTTA drive economic development. The communities in which toll roads are located benefit from new business development and neighborhoods that spring up along and near NTTA roadways, experts say.
“The Sam Rayburn Tollway, and its connection to the Dallas North Tollway, offers Plano’s businesses an important route to D/FW (Airport) along with vital connections to the interstate highway system,” said Sally Bane, director of economic development for the City of Plano.
“Plano’s multi-million dollar companies and small businesses alike are excited about this seamless connectivity enabling them to deliver their products and services on time, which is vital to the success of any company and any community. This access quickly connects Plano’s businesses and people to the globe,” she said.
The NTTA fully opened the five-level Sam Rayburn Tollway/Dallas North Tollway interchange, the final piece of the Sam Rayburn Tollway corridor, in November 2011. The interchange’s eight major ramps join the two major toll roads.
The following month, the NTTA opened the highly anticipated President George Bush Turnpike Eastern Extension, a 9.9-mile route that extends the toll road from northwest Garland east and south to Interstate 30, giving motorists enhanced access to the cities of Garland, Rowlett and Sachse and into the growing Rockwall area.
“Just look at the development that was happening in anticipation of the opening,” said Dr. Bernard Weinstein, a business economics expert and longtime professor who currently serves as associate director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University. “Now that it’s open, I suspect dirt is going to be flying all along the access roads. It’s just a tremendous economic boon to northeast Dallas County and Rockwall County.”
McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller expects his community to reap new economic benefits due to the NTTA’s completion of the SRT corridor through Allen, Fairview and McKinney, where the Sam Rayburn Tollway/U.S. 75 interchange provides motorists with nonstop connections to and from the toll road and a major U.S. thoroughfare. The Sam Rayburn Tollway/U.S. 75 interchange was fully open to traffic in early 2011.
“The completion of SRT will open the door to many opportunities for economic development in McKinney,” Loughmiller said. “In addition to being centrally located in the growth corridor of U.S. 75, the interchange at SRT and 75 and the completion as you drive west toward D/FW Airport allows us to compete for those companies seeking a close proximity to a major international airport, ease of mobility on the transportation corridor and a quality of life that is second to none with our housing, schools, churches and recreational opportunities.
“While quality of life is an important factor, it is no coincidence that economic growth in a region generally follows completion of major infrastructure initiatives like the SRT 121 project,” Loughmiller added. “We look forward to showing corporate America what McKinney has to offer for quality development along the Sam Rayburn Tollway.”
NTTA roadways traditionally have had positive economic impacts on local businesses and communities. Weinstein and a former University of North Texas colleague reached that conclusion in their 2006 study, “The Economic, Fiscal and Developmental Impacts of the North Texas Tollway Authority: A 40-Year Perspective."
The study noted that among the most significant impacts of the Dallas North Tollway and the President George Bush Turnpike were the size and pace of residential and commercial development adjacent to the thoroughfares. The study also found that future NTTA projects will further improve mobility as well as economic development prospects in this area – and that remains the case today, Weinstein said.
NTTA roadways “may be greater economic drivers than ever before because transportation access is so important in terms of residential choice and the choices businesses make in terms of where they want to locate,” Weinstein said. “You don’t have to be an economist to notice this. I’ve lived here 36 years and watched the expansion of these roadways and seen the type of development that occurs along or close to them.”
Because of the lack of state and federal funds for infrastructure, the North Texas region would be behind the curve if it weren’t for toll roads and the NTTA’s funding of toll roads, Weinstein noted. A lack of infrastructure would limit the region’s growth potential, job creation and other economic benefits.
“Our surface transportation and the relative ease of mobility are absolutely instrumental to economic development,” Weinstein said. “When the local chambers go out or business people do prospecting (to determine where to locate), and they see the new roads and how relatively easy it is to get around – the NTTA gets a lot of the credit.”
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