The Chisholm Trail Parkway (formerly Southwest Parkway) is a proposed 27.6-mile tollroad that will extend from downtown Fort Worth south to Cleburne. More than 40 years in the making, the project is a collaboration between the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA), Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), Tarrant and Johnson counties, the cities of Fort Worth, Burleson and Cleburne, Fort Worth and Western Railroad (FWWR) and Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR).
Originally defined as two distinct transportation projects, the Southwest Parkway and Chisholm Trail were combined to form the Southwest Parkway/Chisholm Trail project in October 2008. On May 12, 2011, Gov. Rick Perry signed HB 367 changing the name of the Southwest Parkway/Chisholm Trail corridor solely to Chisholm Trail Parkway. The bill took effect on Sept. 1, 2011.
The northern section of CTP will be an 8.7 mile, six-lane tollway that stretches from I-30 to southwest Fort Worth. The NTTA, TxDOT and the City of Fort Worth, in conjunction with a Citizens Advisory Group, cooperatively developed a Corridor Master Plan to guide the design development of the corridor with respect to aesthetic features.
The NTTA developed the final design plans for part of the southern extension of CTP from Altamesa Boulevard to FM 1187. For the southernmost 13 mile section, the NTTA selected a Design/Builder for Section 6, which stretches from FM 1187 to U.S. 67 in Cleburne. Once completed, the CTP will provide a continuous route from Fort Worth to Cleburne connecting southwest Tarrant and northwest Johnson counties.
Although final environmental clearance for the corridor was received in June 2009, alignment changes and tolling modifications requiredTxDOT to perform an environmental reevaluation of Section 6 of the project. On May 10, 2011, the Federal Highway Administration issued a decision concurring that the 2004 Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is still valid and that no additional environmental studies are required for the section of the corridor. This action by FHWA environmentally cleared Section 6.
The NTTA and TxDOT have been working together on financial planning for the entire corridor. In August 2010, the NTTA Board of Directors voted to exercise its option to develop, construct and operate the CTP project. On Sept. 29, 2011, the Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) authorized the NTTA to enter into a supplemental Toll Equity Loan Agreement (TELA) with TxDOT. After approval from the TTC, the NTTA Board of Directors approved the sale of the bonds for CTP funding and voted to add the CTP to the NTTA Special Projects System. The Board also approved the supplemental TELA with TxDOT. On Nov. 11, 2011, the CTP reached financial close and notice to proceed was issued to contractors. Construction on all sections began on Nov. 28, 2011.
The entire corridor is expected to open to traffic in mid-2014.
The corridor team has developed a series of maps, using 2010 aerial photographs of the project area, to help interested citizens understand how CTP will intersect with existing roadway infrastructure. You can now click on the following links to download any one of the nine maps of various segments along the corridor: