Five things to know as the tollway opens
The new Texas 71 toll lanes, running from near Presidential Boulevard to east of Texas 130, are expected to open Tuesday before 4:30 p.m., according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Here are five things to know about the $140 million tollway:
Vehicles with toll tags will be charged 87 cents when they pass the overhead toll gantry just east of the new FM 973 overpass. Drivers without toll tags will be charged $1.16, based on their license plate number, and will get a bill in the mail.
Drivers will have one toll lane in each direction through the 3-mile trip, though some short sections will have two lanes.
Eastbound vehicles can enter the toll lane from adjacent lanes west of Presidential
Tolls: Lanes: Entrances:
Boulevard or from an entrance just east of Presidential. Westbound vehicles can enter the toll lanes from Texas 71 near Onion Creek, east of Texas 130, or from the entrance ramp just east of FM 973.
There will be an eastbound exit just east of FM 973 and a westbound exit just east of Presidential. Or, in both directions, vehicles at the end of the toll lanes will merge into the free lanes.
Drivers going east on Texas 71, if they
Exits: Access to Texas 130:
want to reach Texas 130 by a flyover that has been there for almost a decade, will have to take the new toll lane. Drivers on Texas 71’s free lanes can still get to northbound Texas 130 if they go through traffic signals at the interchange. This is a departure from the access before the Texas 71 tollway was built, when all drivers could use the flyover.