New Survey: North Texas residents overwhelmingly support adding managed toll lanes to North Tarrant Express for safety, congestion reasons – and at no cost to taxpayers, if constructed
IRVING, TEXAS—Eighty percent of North Texas residents support adding managed toll lanes to the North Tarrant Express (NTE) Midtown portion of State Highway 183 if these capacity improvements are paid for at no cost to Texas taxpayers, according to a new public opinion survey conducted for the North Texas Commission. The roadway is a primary connector to the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, downtown Fort Worth and communities across the region.
The survey of 506 residents of Dallas, Tarrant and Denton counties found strong support for additional managed toll lanes on SH 183 between Reliance Parkway to MacArthur Boulevard to improve safety and address congestion. This support grows even stronger if the project is not constructed at taxpayers’ expense.
The survey was conducted among residents who live within a 15-mile radius of the proposed improvements and found the following:
80 percent of those surveyed support adding a managed toll lane in either direction of the highway if these improvements are paid for at no cost to taxpayers;
74 percent support adding a managed toll lane in either direction if it would enhance safety and prevent potentially dangerous bottlenecks; and
68 percent support adding a managed toll lane in either direction to allow greater vehicle flow and decrease travel times.
“North Texas residents strongly support improving the Midtown portion of SH 183 to enhance safety, prevent traffic bottlenecks and decrease travel times – and that support jumps to an overwhelming 80 percent once they know these improvements would be paid for at no cost to taxpayers,” said Chris Wallace, president/CEO of the North Texas Commission. “This project has taken on greater importance with the planned expansion of the DFW Airport, which is served by this Midtown segment of SH 183. Improving regional mobility to the airport is vital.”
The poll was conducted July 18-21, 2023 by the research firm of Baselice & Associates, Inc. and has a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percent.
The survey results come as the North Texas Commission and an alliance of elected officials, business organizations, transportation planners and the DFW Airport are asking for the capacity improvements to this segment of SH 183 at no cost to Texas taxpayers. The roadway is among the most congested highways in Texas, according to Texas A&M University’s Transportation Institute.
Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer said the NTE is a critical roadway for Metroplex drivers and the North Texas economy, so much so that the NTE has seen tremendous demand as the region’s population boom continues. Improvement of the roadway is imperative, he said.
“Unless this highway segment is improved as part of a broader strategy for the NTE, local drivers in the cities of Hurst, Bedford, Euless and Irving will be burdened with growing congestion, unsafe conditions and delays at a crucial section of this transportation network,” Mayor Stopfer said. “The bottleneck that forms on the east end of this project at the 183-and-Belt Line intersection can be alleviated at no construction cost to taxpayers, and mobility to the DFW Airport vastly improved.”
This roadway project will be a focus of the North Texas Commission’s upcoming infrastructure summit, which will also examine broadband expansion, electric reliability, regional water supply, sustainability, and the importance of public-private partnerships to infrastructure development. The summit is set for Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at the Hurst Conference Center.
“We should continue to leverage the public-private partnership that brought us the NTE by enhancing this Midtown portion of SH 183 at no construction cost to Texas taxpayers, and faster than is possible with traditional funding,” Wallace said.
The NTE alone has seen tremendous demand with more than half a million trips daily, and together with the Greater DFW managed lane network, have delivered billions of dollars in economic impact to the region, while providing thousands of regional contractor and vendor firms with work. Improvement of this segment of SH 183 would create hundreds of new local jobs and bring additional investments to the region.
In addition to support from North Texas residents, the project has strong support from:
Mayors:
Mayor Michael Boyter, City of Bedford
Mayor Bob Dubey, City of Richardson
Mayor Clyde C. Hairston, City of Lancaster
Mayor Jim Jarratt, City of Granbury
Mayor Linda Martin, City of Euless
Mayor Wes Mays, City of Coppell
Mayor Jim Ross, City of Arlington
Mayor Rick Stopfer, City of Irving
Mayor Jeannette Tiffany, Town of Trophy Club
Mayor Oscar Trevino, City of North Richland Hills
Mayor Henry Wilson, City of Hurst
Organizations:
Allen Fairview Chamber of Commerce
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
Frisco Chamber of Commerce
Garland Chamber of Commerce
Grapevine Chamber of Commerce
Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce
Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Chamber of Commerce
Invest Texas Council
Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
North Dallas Chamber of Commerce
North Texas Commission
Richardson Chamber of Commerce
Rowlett Chamber of Commerce
Texas Association of Businesses
To learn more about this SH 183 project, visit www.ntc-dfw.org/moving-ntx-forward.
Established in 1971, the North Texas Commission is a unique public-private partnership that drives large impactful projects and legislative issues benefiting a robust 13-county region, and tackles the region’s greatest challenges with board and staff subject matter experts who provide resources to market the region and educate future leaders. The Commission also manages the region’s unified advocacy voice at the state and federal levels.