NTTA History
NTTA began in 1953 as a state agency, the Texas Turnpike Authority (TTA).
TTA began construction on the state's first toll road, the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike, in 1955 and opened the road in 1957. Original plans were for the bonds on the Turnpike to be retired in 1995; however, the bonds were retired in 1977 (17 years ahead of schedule) and tolls were then removed from the road, which the next year was officially designated as Interstate 30.
Construction began on NTTA's oldest existing toll road, the Dallas North Tollway, in 1966, and its first segment (from Interstate 35E to Interstate 635) was opened in 1968. The Tollway (as it is popularly known) has (along with general Dallas-area growth) expanded continually northward, opening extensions in 1987, 1994, and most recently in 2007.
TTA started construction in 1977 on its first toll bridge, the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) Mountain Creek Lake Bridge, which opened in 1979. The bridge spans Mountain Creek Lake in the southwestern Dallas County city of Grand Prairie.
Construction was started on TTA's only project outside the area, the 2.0-mile (3.2 km) Jesse Jones Memorial Bridge across the Houston Ship Channel, in 1979, with the bridge opening in 1982. TTA sold the bridge to the newly-created Harris County Toll Road Authority in 1994.
TTA ceased as a state entity in 1997 with the creation of the current NTTA.
Read more about this topic: North Texas Tollway Authority
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