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Cooperative Vendor Outreach Symposium Travels to Tarrant County The NTTA and Collin County reached an agreement last month on a framework for the development of all future turnpike projects in the county, including a tollway that will one day form a portion of a ring project around North Texas.
The Outer Loop is a proposed regional beltway - approximately 52 miles of which will be within Collin County. Under the new interlocal agreement, the NTTA and the county will collaboratively advance the planning, constructing, maintaining and operating of the Outer Loop, as well as future tollways in the county. Additionally, Collin County can advance the service roads ahead of the toll lanes portion of the Outer Loop or other toll road, thereby spurring both economic development along the alignment and the feasibility of the completely built-out project.
“We have worked well together in the past with Collin County, and this agreement ensures that good relations will continue well into the future,” said Bill Moore, one of Collin County’s appointed members of the NTTA Board of Directors.
Under the agreement, the NTTA has the first option to deliver a feasible toll project in the region, but the Collin County Toll Road Authority previously formed by the county could build the county’s section of the Outer Loop if the NTTA does not proceed with that project in accordance with the schedule and conditions agreed upon today.
The parties acknowledge that close collaboration and the full sharing of information will best guarantee that public funds are prudently spent on the applicable projects. To that end, the NTTA and Collin County agree to fully cooperate in evaluating the feasibility of the Outer Loop and other projects and to identify and propose methods to advance the permitting, design, financing, construction, and operation of those projects.
As part of the agreement, the NTTA and Collin County will form and maintain an advisory technical work group. The Texas Department of Transportation, the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and the Regional Transportation Council will be invited to participate on the technical work group, along with other parties identified by the NTTA and the county.
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