Plans are officially underway to make US Highway 75 more free-flowing. Between Sam Rayburn Tollway and Interstate Highway 635, high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes will become general purpose lanes, however, in order to comply with federal law, they will serve as HOV lanes around 6 percent of the time, requiring a smart toll during those times.
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“Collin County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the country, which creates transportation challenges,” said Collin County Commissioner Duncan Webb, who is heavily involved with the project. “The RTC and our transportation partners have developed a solution that will improve the use, capacity, and reliability of one of the county’s most important transportation corridors. It was critical to our residents that any agreement minimize any required tolling on the lanes while we will continue working with our local congressional delegation to change the law and eliminate the toll. All partners are eager to identify the elements of the permanent solution on US 75.”
The transition of the HOV lanes to general purpose lanes will begin later this year, following an environmental review by TxDOT. Upon completion, the new lanes will run from Bethany Drive in Allen all the way to IH 635.
“The goal of this project is to increase the capacity of US 75 in order to make the fast-growing corridor more efficient for commuters, residents and businesses in the area,” said Allen Mayor Steve Terrell. “Collin County continues to experience substantial growth, and it is important that we address transportation needs along this corridor while doing so in a way that is fair to motorists. Lanes that remain toll-free most of the time was a fair and equitable way to improve reliability.”
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The environmental review of 75’s corridors will be complete in June and construction on the project will begin by September 2022. The interchange project is slated for completion by 2025 and is estimated to cost a total of $28 million.
