Harris County Toll Road Authority

The Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA, pronounced "HECK-trah") maintains and operates a 103 mi toll road system in the Greater Houston area of Texas, United States. Its headquarters are located in Houston's Fairbanks/Northwest Crossing neighborhood.

History
HCTRA came into being in September 1983 after Harris County voters a $900 million bond referendum by a 7–3 margin to release up to $900 million in bonds to create two toll roads – the Hardy Toll Road and the Sam Houston Tollway – to improve the regional mobility and reduce traffic congestion in the Greater Houston area, an area known for rapid population growth.

The need for a county-run toll road system came from TxDOT's budget shortfall and its inability to authorize funding to upgrade the second loop around the city, Beltway 8, which had been on planning maps since the 1950s. The Texas Turnpike Authority turned down the opportunity to improve the road as well, leaving the county to upgrade the road to freeway standards. However, Harris County could not afford to build and maintain a freeway from its general fund.

Shortly after the referendum, the Commissioners Court created the Toll Road Authority to administer the construction and operation of the new road system. Then-County Judge Jon Lindsay is generally credited with shepherding the referendum from its infancy to its passage, along with the implementation of the plan for the roadway. HCTRA was a part of Harris County's Public Infrastructure Department and is subdivided into a Services and an Operations Division.

While for many years, the Hardy Toll Road never had the traffic that the HCTRA envisioned it would need to turn a profit, the Sam Houston Tollway has more than made up for the lost revenue. The high profit margins on the Sam Houston Tollway allowed the authority to construct its third and fourth toll roads, the Westpark Tollway and Fort Bend Toll Road, both of which opened in 2004. Both of these toll roads have termini in Fort Bend County and are run in conjunction with the Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority. HCTRA also operates managed lanes that run along the median of I-10/Katy Freeway between SH 6 and I-610 that opened in April 2009. The most recent project of HCTRA is the Tomball Tollway, which was completed in phases between 2015 and 2019.

On March 1, 2020, operations of the Lynchburg Ferry and the Washburn Tunnel were transferred from Harris County Precinct 2 to the Harris County Toll Road Authority. There are no plans for HCTRA to implement tolls either the Lynchburg Ferry or the Washburn Tunnel. Nevertheless, HCTRA's involvement will include plans to improve the operations of both facilities, as well as much-needed repairs and upgrades.

Current system
The HCTRA uses their own toll tag called the EZ TAG. The system has been interoperable with the Texas Department of Transportation's TxTag and the North Texas Tollway Authority's TollTag since 2003. Around the 3rd quarter of 2017, the system will be interoperable with the Kansas Turnpike Authority's K-Tag and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's PikePass.

The following toll roads (in order of first segment completion) form the current HCTRA system:

Sam Houston Tollway (1982)
The Sam Houston Tollway is the name given to the tolled sections of Beltway 8, the second highway loop around Houston. The first opened section was the Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge in the east quadrant of the road system. From 1982 to 1994, the bridge, which was originally named in honor of local politician and entrepreneur Jesse H. Jones, was maintained by the Texas Turnpike Authority (now North Texas Tollway Authority). As of February 26, 2011, the Sam Houston Tollway is a complete tolled beltway loop around Houston (minus a few minor sections that are freeways managed by TXDOT).

Hardy Toll Road (1988)
The Hardy Toll Road was constructed to help alleviate traffic off of I-45 North. The route begins at I-610 North between I-45 North and I-69/US 59 North and travels northward parallel to I-45 for 21.6 mi after which it merges onto I-45. The toll road also features a 4 mi spur to George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Westpark Tollway (2004)
The Westpark Tollway is a 22 mi toll road starting in Uptown Houston and traveling westward parallel to sections of Westpark Drive and FM 1093 and terminating just past FM 723 in Fulshear, Texas. It is the first all-electronic toll road in the United States. The Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority (FBCTRA) operates the westernmost 8 mi of the tollway.

Fort Bend Toll Road (2004)
The Fort Bend Toll Road is a 8.9 mi tollway that follows the route of the formerly-cancelled State Highway 122. The toll road currently begins with direct connectors at US 90A, just north of the Sam Houston Tollway, and travels southward to its terminus at Sienna Ranch Road in Missouri City. As with the Westpark Tollway, the Fort Bend Toll Road is jointly operated with the FBCTRA.

Katy Freeway Managed Lanes (2009)
In 2002, HCTRA entered into an agreement with TxDOT and Harris County for the reconstruction of I-10/Katy Freeway. The toll road authority's portion of the project is a 12 mi managed lane facility in the center of the reconstructed freeway that is used by METRO and HOV vehicles at no charge and single passenger vehicles for a toll. The four lane roadway, running between I-610/West Loop and SH 6, has been completed. The lanes opened during the second quarter of 2009.

Tomball Tollway (2015)
The Tomball Tollway consists of a 7.5-mile (12.1 km) segment of three toll lanes in each direction from Spring Cypress Road up to Sentinel Oaks in Pinehurst. Texas State Highway 249 serves as toll-free frontage roads for the Tomball Tollway. Tolling on the Tomball Tollway is all-electronic; an EZ TAG, TollTag or TxTag are required for passage. No cash or pay-by-mail option is available for the Tomball Tollway. Construction of Phase I of the Tomball Tollway between Spring Cypress Road and the north end of the Tomball Bypass began in Fall 2013 and was finished on April 12, 2015. Phase II of the SH 249 (Tomball Tollway) project, in partnership with Montgomery County Toll Road Authority, extends the tollway north of the Tomball Bypass to Sentinel Oaks just north of Spring Creek in Montgomery County. From that point, the corridor will extend north to points beyond in Montgomery and Grimes Counties. Construction of Phase II commenced in Spring 2017 and was completed in December 2019.


 * This section does not include (within Harris County) the Grand Parkway (SH 99 Toll) and the SH 288 toll lanes. The former is maintained by TxDOT while the latter is operated by the Blueridge Transportation Group on behalf of TxDOT. 

Hardy Downtown Connector
This 4 mi long project will provide a connection between Downtown Houston and the current terminus of the Hardy Toll Road at I-610. Planning for the Hardy Toll Road connection into Downtown Houston was announced in 2000. The project will be completed in two phases. Phase I consists of moving a railroad line, right of way acquisition, and the construction of two overpasses. Phase II will be the construction of 4 toll lanes. Relocation of the rail line is expected to begin Fall of 2012.

Hardy Toll Road Interchange at Beltway 8
To relieve congestion on surface streets, direct connectors between Hardy Toll Road and Beltway 8 will be constructed. Currently there is only one direct connector ramp from Beltway 8 East to Hardy Toll Road North. Expected construction start date is unknown.

Tomball Tollway direct connectors at SH 99
This project (which began in early 2020) will add a total of four direct connectors: two from northbound Tomball Tollway to east and westbound SH 99 (Grand Parkway), with the other two connecting to southbound Tomball Tollway from east and westbound SH 99. Ramps from SH 99 to southbound Tomball Tollway opened in July 2022; Tomball Tollway ramps to SH 99 remain under construction.

Increased capacity of existing toll roads
Added capacity is planned for the following existing tollway segments:
 * Sam Houston Tollway Southeast from SH 288 to IH 45 South: Two lanes will be added in each direction with improvements to the mainline toll plaza, and will have reconstructed entrance/exit ramps. Schematic design has been completed, construction is expected to begin in approximately 2 years. As of late 2015 the construction has not commenced since the interchange at SH288 has not been finalized where both TxDOT and HCTRA are finalizing plans for both the tollway upgrade and SH288 managed lanes. The first phase which commenced in 2015 is the construction of new overpasses for the west and eastbound Beltway 8 service lanes over a railroad right of way which parallels Mykawa Road (since the 1997 opening of the southeast segment of the Sam Houston Tollway, one lane in both directions on the tollway's bridge over Mykawa Road was co-shared with Beltway 8 frontage road. The realignment of the service lanes eliminated the co-sharing with HCTRA and TxDOT (prior to the right of way co-sharing those who used the Beltway 8 service lanes had to make a turn on Mykawa Road and a left on Knapp Road in Pearland where it had a surface crossing at a railroad right of way, which has been decommissioned later replaced with a flyover on McHard Road a few miles south during the early 2000s); this section of the tollway is congested on weekends where Cole's Flea Market is located south of the tollway on State Highway 35 in Pearland).
 * Sam Houston Tollway East from IH 45 South to SH 225: One or two lanes are to be added in each direction with improvements to the mainline toll plaza, and will have reconstructed entrance/exit ramps. Construction for the tollway lanes is expected to begin in 2017.
 * Sam Houston Tollway – Ship Channel Bridge from SH 225 to IH 10 East: A second span will be constructed over the ship channel with three or four lanes with full shoulders in each direction. Construction is expected to begin in 2018. First phase of the plan involved the conversion of the Ship Channel Bridge toll plazas into electronic toll collection, which was implemented on January 11, 2016.

Fort Bend Parkway/South Post Oak Road Extension
The project will connect I-610 via the South Post Oak exit (which terminates south of West Bellfort) to the northern terminus of the Fort Bend Parkway at US 90 Alternate with just over 3 mi of tolled lanes. In October 2019, HCTRA began to examine plans for the segment utilizing the original 2003 schematics.

Fairmont Parkway East managed lanes
Project is no longer being built, as of March 30, 2010.

Hempstead Highway/US 290 managed lanes
The planned project would have added four tolled lanes along the Hempstead Highway corridor between I-610 and the future Grand Parkway (SH 99) northwest segment. The project was one component of the complete US 290 corridor upgrade by TxDOT, which also included added capacity to US 290, a new HOV system parallel to the Hempstead Highway, and a possible commuter rail line in conjunction with METRO. However, in April 2012, it was announced by HCTRA that the primacy of the Hempstead Tollway was handed off to TxDOT. Construction of the tollway by TxDOT is not anticipated for several years.

SH 242/I-45 flyover ramps (2015)
Although both of them are located within Montgomery County and were at the time owned and operated by Montgomery County Toll Road Authority (MCTRA), HCTRA formerly collected tolls for MCTRA for two flyover ramps: one from northbound I-45 to SH 242 westbound and the other from westbound SH 242 to I-45 southbound near The Woodlands. Both flyover ramps were completed on May 11, 2015, and were tolled between July 6, 2015, and May 28, 2019. Both ramps solely utilized electronic toll collection, and required drivers to own an EZ TAG, TollTag or TxTag transponder. After a unanimous vote by the Montgomery County Commissioners Court on May 28, 2019, the tolls were lifted, and ownership and maintenance of both flyover ramps were transferred to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). As a result, HCTRA stopped collecting tolls on the flyover ramps.

SH 288 managed lanes
To help alleviate congestion on SH 288, HCTRA had planned to construct toll lanes in the median of the existing freeway. The route would begin at I-69/US 59 just south of Midtown and terminate at the intersection of the proposed Grand Parkway (SH 99) for a total length of 26 miles (41.8 km). HCTRA would have maintain its segment north of Clear Creek at the Brazoria County Line. Shortly before construction began in November 2016, TxDOT's Toll Operations Division took control of the project from HCTRA.