Federal and state leaders, frustrated by delays on the expansion of Interstate 35E through parts of Dallas and Denton counties, said Tuesday that a private contractor and tolls could be the keys to fast-tracking the project.

U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess joined with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation Thomas Barrett and Texas Department of Transportation and regional officials to announce that the 28-mile project to widen the interstate is urgent and cannot be put off.

“Interstate 35E is our lifeblood and our lifeline – it takes us to work and brings us home,” Dr. Burgess said. “It brings us our food, our goods and takes us where we need to go. But right now it is one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the area and region.”

Expanding this road is critical because of continued growth in Denton County — the population is expected to top 1 million by 2030 — and the lack of convenient alternative thoroughfares, especially across Lewisville Lake.

“A fender-bender on the bridge can stall traffic in the whole area for hours,” said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. “It’s outrageous.”

The I-35E project, which would widen the freeway from Interstate 635 in Farmers Branch to U.S. Highway 380 in Denton, has been planned for about 20 years. Over that time, the project’s cost has escalated to about $2.9 billion.

Only $535 million is allocated to the project, officials said.

Officials said Tuesday that their solution is to embrace the “design-build” process of employing a private contractor – and possibly private investment. That way, officials said, the project could begin as soon as 2010.

Two to four toll lanes would be added to the interstate along with new general use lanes and continuous frontage roads, according to the proposal. Revenue from the toll lanes would re-pay the private investment.

This would be the first design-build project in Denton County as well as the first proposed for a federal interstate in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“There is less state and federal money available to build new roads,” Mr. Morris said. “We’ve got to tighten our belts, and this is one way not to be left behind in that process.”

Transportation projects in other parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth area are similarly delayed and looking at private contracts, including the North Texas Express project to expand Interstate 35W, Airport Freeway and other roads in Tarrant County.

Federal, state and local leaders who gathered Tuesday near the Lewisville Lake bridge in Highland Village said the current system of funding transportation projects through political clout and other non-meritorious considerations is broken and must be replaced by innovative ideas.

Among those is the federal transportation reform plan announced by Mr. Barrett on Tuesday. The plan, to be considered this fall, would grant urban cities a lump sum along with the power to decide how the dollars are spent.

“Under our approach, cities will have more flexibility to put their transportation dollars toward projects that benefit commuters and communities,” he said.

Private contracts and toll roads are another possibility.

“Nobody is really excited about building new toll roads,” said Steve Simmons, deputy executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation. “But we’re behind in meeting our needs for additional capacity, and this is a way to get it done.”

The proposed expansion of Interstate 35E will result in a total of eight to 10 main lanes, two to four concurrent toll lanes and two to three lanes of frontage road on each side.

Improvements are split into three segments:

- South — Interstate 635 to President George Bush Turnpike: 5.5 miles

- Middle — Bush Turnpike to FM2181: 12.1 miles

- North — FM2181 to U.S. Highway 380: 10.5 miles

Timetable for improvements:

- Middle segment: begin in 2011, completed in 2015

- North segment: begin in 2015, completed in 2018

- South segment: begin in 2017, completed in 2020

Source: Texas Department of Transportation