NE Texas toller to enlist "financial partner" for Loop 49 and study Texarkana outer loop

North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NETRMA)'s board decided recently to exercise their authority to develop the Toll 49 (previously known as Loop-49 tollroad) further in Tyler. They are issuing a Request for Information (RFI) for a "financial partnership" with the private sector to develop the Loop tollroad more fully. A short stretch is already open.

The 49 tollroad is a modest 2 lane affair, but designed for eventual doubling. It is one of the first cashless all-electronic tollroads in Texas.

It isn't clear whether a "financial partner" is substantially different from a concessionaire, as limited by the anti-concession legislation SB792 passed by the state legislature last summer. There's lawyer work there!

NETRMA also decided at their last board meeting to embark on study of an outer loop tollroad in Texarkana. They have lots of other projects potentially in play.

see http://www.netrma.org

TOLLROADSnews 2008-06-25