Saturday, April 12, 2008

Regional Transportation Council approves funding for bridge over Lake Ray Hubbard

By Pegasus News wire

In a much-anticipated action, the Regional Transportation Council (RTC) voted Thursday to officially secure the funding for the construction of the bridge across Lake Ray Hubbard and the interchange at IH-30 as a part of the President George Bush Turnpike (PGBT) Eastern Extension project.

Rowlett officials could not be more excited.

"On behalf of the City Council and the Citizens of Rowlett, I want to thank the Regional Transportation Council for their bold and innovative steps to assure that the bridge across Lake Ray Hubbard to I-30 gets built on time! Thanks also to TxDOT for their willingness to accept the help," said Mayor John Harper on Thursday in response to the RTC’s decision to proceed with funding.

The Eastern Extension of the PGBT will be under construction in late spring/early summer from SH 78 in Garland, through Sachse, and Rowlett, to IH-30. This 9-mile extension of the Turnpike will boost economic development through all of these cities, but the critical part of the project, the bridge over the lake and the interchange at IH-30, was not officially funded until the RTC’s action this week.

"This final funding assurance shines a bright green light on this critical regional transportation connection," said Rowlett City Manager Craig Owens. "So much public and private investment has been building in anticipation of the date of construction. Now it’s a go."

For Rowlett, this billion-dollar project is "huge and historic", Owens continued. "For the region this connection is critical and could not be delayed. This demonstrates once again that North Texas leadership will find a way to deliver."

The Regional Transportation Council is the independent transportation policy body of the Metropolitan Planning Organization. The RTC is comprised of local elected or appointed officials representing cities and counties, and transportation provider representatives. The RTC is responsible for overseeing the metropolitan transportation planning process by providing guidance regarding the development of multimodal transportation plans and programs, and in this case, programming of federal and State funds for the implementation of transportation improvements.

Source: City of Rowlett

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