CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON ATTENDS SIGNING CEREMONY THAT APPROVES $418 MILLION FOR STATE HIGHWAY 161 PROJECT IN DALLAS COUNTY

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (center) looks on as Senior Project Finance Advisor - TIFIA Credit Program, Cheryl Jones (right); and Chief Financial Officer - North Texas Tollway Authority, Janice Davis (left) sign TIFIA loan. 

Washington, DC (Friday, April 15, 2011)– Today, Congresswoman Johnson was in attendance when officials from the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) Program within theU.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) signed documents that willloan more than $418 million to the North Texas Tollway (NTTA) for the final phase of construction of State Highway 161 in Dallas County. The NTTA will use the loan to repay bond notes issued to finance the construction.

“This agreement has been years in the making and I am very glad to see it finalized. It was an honor to join with representatives from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the North Texas Tollway Authority for the signing of this agreement,” said Congresswoman Johnson. “I have fought hard for this agreement that will provide a loan for more than $418 million that will help pay for construction of the final phase of State Highway 161, which by the way, is a $1.2 billion project.”

The State Highway 161 loan will extend the roadway from State Highway 183 to Interstate 20 approximately 11.3 miles along the western boundary of Dallas County.  It will provide a natural extension to the heavily congested President George Bush Turnpike. A substantial portion of State Highway 161 is already complete and generating revenue through tolls. 

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U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. She is also the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas that includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Oak Lawn, Turtle Creek,Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, & South Oak Cliff; all of Balch Springs, DeSoto, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Ferris, Glenn Heights and Ovilla.