A contract to build the North Tarrant Express toll road in Texas has been signed between the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Cintra, a Spanish road toll company.

The $2bn project will be partly funded by the Texan government with $570m while the rest will provided through a mixture of equity and debt from Cintra along with its partners, according to the contract.

The express toll road will run 13 miles along Northeast Loop 820 and State Highway 121, from Interstate 35W to the State Highway 121 split in Tarrant County.

The project includes free lanes as well as new tolled lanes.

The toll road will be operated by North Texas Tollway Authority while the toll road will be maintained by Cintra for 52 years, thereby saving $450m for Texas.

In addition Cintra is also expected to sign an agreement to rebuild LBJ Freeway in Dallas, US.