First Section Of MoPac Boulevard Toll Lane Project Opens In Austin

AUSTIN, TX -- The first section of the MoPac Boulevard toll lane project opened Saturday morning, a traffic access that is nearly three years in the making.

The opening occurred just before 9 a.m. on Saturday. The clearing provides access to the new northbound lane about a half-mile south of Far West Boulevard. According to transportation officials, that stretch allows drivers to travel six miles for 25 cents for cars bearing a toll tag. Those without a tag will be billed about 33 percent more in a bill mailed to their homes, the Austin American-Statesman noted in its report.

Yet the quarter charge is fluid. As the Statesman reports, the toll will fluctuate as often as every five minutes -- increasing in times of heavy traffic to discourage its use but lowering when traffic thins out. Given such mercurial traffic, there is no ceiling on the base toll rate, the newspaper noted.

This so-called "variable toll" method is the first of its kind in Central Texas. The existing half-dozen tollways opening in the last decade have fixed rates that are altered, at most, once a year, the newspaper reported.

The overall project has been much-delayed. The remainder of the 11-mile stretch of "express lane" is more than a year behind its originally scheduled completion. However, it might now open as early as spring.

Upon its opening, MoPac will contain an additional toll lane on each side of the roadway, from West Cesar Chavez Street to south of Parmer Lane, transportation officials have previously detailed. In anticipation of the project, entrances are being installed throughout the road stretch, including at each end, in the middle and at various exits.

"It's not just MoPac anymore," transportation officials say, perhaps in assuaging frustrations over its delay and fostering a community embrace. "It's MyPac." To learn more about the overall project, click here. For updates on expected construction completions of the project's various parts, click here. And for answers to frequently asked questions, click here.

For those wanting to go old school in asking questions about the project, call MoPac Improvement Project officials at (512) 270-5000.

>>> Read more at Austin American-Statesman

Image via MoPac Improvement Project