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Bush Turnpike’s Eastern Extension “Right Around the Corner” Eastern Dallas County commuters won’t have to wait much longer for dirt to start flying on the next segment of the President George Bush Turnpike (PGBT). The NTTA has received a conditional letter of authority from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The letter paves the way for the agency to tentatively schedule the awarding of a contract on April 17, 2008 to build the first of five project sections.
Construction is currently scheduled to begin in late spring on the first section, which extends 2.8 miles from south of Merritt Road to south of Main Street. That section, which lies in the heart of the approximately 9.9-mile project, represents the most complex portion of the project. All sections of the project are scheduled to be under construction by the end of the year.
The Bush Turnpike and the Eastern Extension have been on the drawing board for more than 40 years, originally as State Highway 190. The corridor has been the subject of multiple studies, and the project was designated as a toll road in 1996. The NTTA opened the first section of the turnpike almost 10 years ago, in late 1998.
Work on all sections of the Eastern Extension, including a TxDOT-managed project from the Interstate Highway 30 interchange to the north shore of Lake Ray Hubbard, should be under way by late 2008. All sections are scheduled to open to traffic in late 2011.
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