Enhancements to Texas transportation law enacted in the early 2000s introduced new project financing and delivery options including the ability for TxDOT to engage the private sector to finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain a toll road project on a public-private partnership (P3) basis. This approach would allow final design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction to take place concurrently, with access to private sector financing helping to accelerate the delivery of the project.
The I-820 and SH 121/SH 183 segments of what was to become the NTE was one of the first corridors in the state to be identified as being a good candidate for P3 development. It was attractive because the development costs were reasonable and traffic demand was high.
Following the state legislature's authorization of P3 projects in Texas, private investors also began to assess project development possibilities in the state. In March 2004, TxDOT received an unsolicited proposal from a private developer to complete the entire I-820 and SH 121/SH 183 corridor, from I-35W in Fort Worth to I-35E east of DFW airport in Dallas County, with a tolled managed lane component. The unsolicited proposal assumed a design-build-operate-maintain procurement funded by tax-exempt bonds issued by TxDOT.
The proposal compelled TxDOT to issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to solicit competing offers and identify the most qualified firms to invite to submit detailed proposals. TxDOT also asked respondents to propose a plan of finance and indicate their estimated need for state funding. Prior to receiving offers, TxDOT informed proposers that $500 million of public funding could be available over the assumed construction period. However, after receiving four offers in August 2004, TxDOT canceled the procurement in January 2006 because it believed that the level of detail and status of environmental reviews across the full corridor were not sufficiently advanced and because concerns had also arisen over the project's financial feasibility.