"A plan to improve reliability along a stretch of US 75 between the Sam Rayburn Tollway and Interstate Highway 635 will be moving forward," NCTCOG said.
The lanes won't be general-purpose 100 percent of the time, however.
"Because the HOV lanes were built with funding through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, current federal law dictates that they cannot become pure general-purpose lanes," NCTCOG said. "Federal law requires that they must retain an HOV component with the ability for HOV users to move at reasonable speeds."
So, six percent of the time a small toll will be required for single-occupant vehicles traveling southbound during weekday mornings and for single-occupant vehicles traveling northbound during selected hours in the evening.
Vehicles with two or more occupants will be able to use the new lanes without being charged the toll.
It'll be up to TxDOT to transition the HOV lanes to general use. That is expected to happen sometime this year.
KRLDs Chris Sommer spoke with Plano mayor Harry LaRossliere about the changes.