All-Electronic Toll Collection Construction Progresses
on the Dallas North Tollway

Construction crews working on the NTTA’s conversion to all-electronic, or cashless, tolling are making progress, having drilled shafts and placed reinforced concrete for gantry column foundations for new main lane gantries and ramp gantries along the Dallas North Tollway (DNT) between Interstate 635 and Parker Road.  Gantries are bridge-like structures that hold electronic equipment that scan TollTags on vehicles or takes photographs of license plates on vehicles that do not have TollTags.  Work will continue in this area as the gantry columns take shape and the crews prepare to switch the work zones in late September to work on additional gantry columns.

The remaining contracts for construction manager and a contractor for DNT ramps and the Addison Airport Toll Tunnel (AATT) are scheduled to be awarded by the NTTA Board of Directors during its regular meeting in September. With award of these contracts, all DNT segments will be in various stages of construction by November.

The construction activities on the DNT, AATT and Mountain Creek Lake Bridge (MCLB) are in preparation for the Dec. 10, 2010 final conversion of the NTTA System to all-electronic toll collection. Beginning Dec. 11, all NTTA roads, bridges and tunnels in the NTTA System will be cashless toll collection facilities.

Once the conversion is complete, cash no longer will be accepted on the NTTA System, and tolls must be paid through a TollTag account or the NTTA’s ZipCash program.

Customers who use ZipCash—the NTTA's pay-by-invoice toll collection method—pay 50 percent more than customers who have TollTags. TollTags also can be used on any toll road in Texas. Customers whose TollTag accounts are backed with a credit or debit card can also use their TollTags for parking and pass-through privileges at D/FW International Airport and for all parking at Dallas Love Field Airport. Customers can have up to three TollTags, a “family pack,” on one account at no additional charge. TollTag accounts also can be managed online 24/7 where customers can print out receipts for expense reports, update account information and much more.

As construction on the DNT, AATT and MCLB continues to ramp up, additional off-peak lane closures will be needed to allow construction crews access to their work.  To stay up to date on scheduled lane closures and weekly construction activities, customers can sign up to receive the NTTA’s new weekly cashless tolling newsletter. For more information about how to sign-up for project updates visit the all-electronic toll collection project webpage or NTTA Facebook page.