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NTTA selects county-line alignment
Ronnie Baker / Staff Photos - After months of debates, proposals and arguments, the NTTA decided to split the difference and voted on the Collin/Denton County line as the route for the Dallas North Tollway 4b extension.
By Jon Vanderlaan, jvanderlaan@acnpapers.com
A novel proposal in financing the Dallas North Tollway expansion from Celina was voted down by the North Texas Tollway Authority on Wednesday as seven of the eight voting members in the agency chose the county-line alignment.
The NTTA voted for the Collin/Denton County alignment as the preferred alignment for the DNT 4B extension project, ending a months-long battle between the two counties, some of which was even brought into the public eye.
Keith Self, the Collin County judge, said despite an offer from the county to build frontage roads if the toll road was supported through Celina, he believes other priorities in the county will take precedence over helping the NTTA.
Self and Denton County Judge Mary Horn at times sparred in their respective proposals during public meetings, each taking jabs at the other’s county.
The NTTA board was in almost unanimous agreement that the proposal from Celina, which offered an estimated $229 million through a tax increment reinvestment zone, was a unique strategy to fund the road, but too many questions were left on the table about whether the money could be raised.
David Denison, the NTTA director representing Lewisville, said while presenting his motion in support of the Denton/Collin County line alignment that it was the one alignment that benefited all parties involved.
The Denton proposal was not without its financial incentives, as well.
John Polster, a transportation consultant with Denton County, said the county had $20 million in bonds allocated for service road construction and an additional $1.5 million in cash available for the design of the toll road.
Hugh Coleman, a Denton County commissioner, said the county also has about 95 percent of the right of way donated compared to about 69 percent donated in the Celina proposal.
“The middle alignment, it’s really about vision,” he said.
Victor Vandergriff, vice chairman of the board, said while the money was appealing, the long-term goals of the agency convinced him to vote for the county-line alignment.
“I do favor a regional approach,” he said. “Nothing in those numbers is certain enough to sway me from a regional approach, which I believe is the county-line alignment.”
The only dissenter on the board was Plano-appointed Bill Moore, who said an opportunity to support such a proposal did not come often and could greatly benefit the NTTA.
The next step in the process will see the NTTA go through a yearlong environmental study of the corridor, which also includes an expansion into Grayson County.
Although the decision was made about the alignment, it has been made clear by the board that the project will not be completed for at least a decade.
NTTA chairman Paul Wageman recused himself from the vote because his law firm represents one of the property owners in one of the alignments.
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