NTTA Receives $20 Million Federal Grant for SH 161

The U. S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced February 17 that the NTTA has received a $20 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and allocated through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) Program.  The grant is expected to be used to support a $400 million TIFIA loan for State Highway (SH) 161.  The TIFIA program provides Federal credit assistance in the form of direct loans, loan guarantees, and standby lines of credit to finance surface transportation projects of national and regional significance. TIFIA credit assistance provides improved access to capital markets, flexible repayment terms, and potentially more favorable interest rates than can be found otherwise.

“This is outstanding news for the NTTA, the North Texas region and its motorists. The NTTA finance team is working diligently to calculate the TIFIA loan’s impact on the SH 161 finance plan, but we know it is going to have a significant, positive impact,” said NTTA Chairman Paul N. Wageman.  “We are grateful to the many elected officials who supported our TIGER and TIFIA applications, particularly Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, whose steadfast commitment to enhancing regional mobility has never wavered. Eddie’s advocacy and support of our applications was instrumental in the NTTA being awarded this grant.”

SH 161 is an 11.5-mile roadway in Dallas County that stretches from SH 183 to Interstate Highway 20. The $1.2 billion project provides a much needed reliever route to SH 360 in Tarrant County. SH 161 is a natural extension of one of the NTTA’s premier facilities, the President George Bush Turnpike.  A portion of the project between SH 183 and Interstate Highway 30 is open to traffic. The project satisfies all of the criteria prescribed under the grant program:
 
Long-term outcomes:  SH 161 has been on the region’s mobility plan for four decades and is an integral part of the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s transportation network.

Economic Stimulus:  Though it has been on the regional transportation plan for forty years, it has more recently come to be known as the road to the Cowboys Stadium, improving traffic flow and enhancing economic development right through the center of Dallas/Fort Worth's booming entertainment and sports district.

Innovation: The project will have all-electronic toll collection, one of only a handful in the country and will improve air quality by eliminating the stop-and-go traffic flow associated with toll booths.

Partnership:  The SH 161 project is supported by local, regional, state and federal partners and sources.

Over the past several months, the NTTA, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), and the Regional Transportation Council have worked diligently to develop financial plans for SH 161 in Dallas County and Southwest Parkway/Chisholm Trail in Tarrant and Johnson counties.  The finance plans include credit enhancements from TxDOT, project cost deferrals and traditional funding methods, such as current interest bonds. 

“Southwest Parkway/Chisholm Trail will also benefit from this grant as the NTTA will be able to dedicate more resources toward closing a funding gap of $300 million,” Wageman said.  “The credit enhancements from the Texas Department of Transportation are still absolutely essential to successful delivery of SH 161 and SWP/CT.”

TxDOT’s governing body, the Texas Transportation Commission, is expected to make a final decision on credit enhancements for SH 161 and SWP/CT on Wed., Feb. 24.  The credit enhancements will improve the projects’ credit rating, allowing the project to support additional bonds that provide additional net proceeds of between $700 and $800 million.  The credit enhancements are structured as a toll equity loan that will be used to cover project costs if the traffic does not meet projections for several years in a row.  However, it is highly unlikely the NTTA will need to utilize the loan due to conservative traffic projections.