AUSTIN, TX The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority's Board of Directors has awarded its largest design-build contract to date for the Bergstrom Expressway/U.S. 183 South project. Recently cleared by the Texas Department of Transportation's Environmental Division to move into the final design and construction phase, this project will help improve mobility throughout the busy corridor, improve access to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and provide an alternate route once reconstruction efforts begin on I-35.

The Board of Directors unanimously approved a motion to award the $581.5 million design-build contract to Colorado River Constructors (CRC). The Mobility Authority received three bids, from a short list of firms. The proposals were evaluated based on technical and price proposals. CRC is a team of design and engineering consultants led by Fluor Corporation and Balfour Beatty Construction. The total cost of the project is estimated to be between $750 and $800 million.

"The Bergstrom Expressway will be the largest roadway project in Central Texas since the construction of SH 130," said Mobility Authority Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein. "The Board's approval of this contract represents a huge milestone - not only for the Mobility Authority, but for our entire region. Offering a non-stop, signal free route to the airport while preserving and enhancing the non-tolled frontage lanes is a win for all Central Texas motorists."

"Although the Texas Department of Transportation has new transportation funding for the Austin region following the passage of Proposition One, those funds are not available to construct toll roads," added Heiligenstein. "Even if they were available, this project alone would take more than our region's allocation."

The roadway, which will open to traffic in phases, includes three tolled lanes and two- three improved non-tolled general-purpose lanes in each direction along U.S. 183 from U.S. 290 to SH 71. The project will feature a parallel Shared Use Path for pedestrian and bicycle travel as well as landscaping and other aesthetic enhancements along the corridor.

Construction along the 8-mile stretch of U.S. 183 is scheduled to begin in early 2016, and is expected to last just over four years. The construction will take place in phases, with phase one improvements, between U.S. 290/290 Toll and Bolm Road expected to be complete in late 2019. The second phase will open to traffic about a year later.