Texas Stadium is being replaced with a new Dallas Cowboys stadium opening later this year in a suburb further west. The old stadium opened in 1971 and with it a flurry of freeways and ramps designed to allow for traffic to and from the venue. As the stadium grew up, so did Irving, the suburb surrounding it. Traffic volumes on the freeways surrounding the stadium area grew and grew and now offer gridlock for most of the day. The junctions around the stadium are sub-par by Dallas standards and feature very short merge lanes, loop ramps, and signalized intersections between some freeway ramps. In short, it’s the worst freeway design in the DFW area.

Because of the new stadium, Texas Stadium is set to be demolished and the site re-developed at some point. TxDot is using this opportunity to upgrade all of the freeways surrounding the old site. Groundbreaking took place on October 28, 2008 for a new set of stack interchanges to replace the varied old loop ramps. Today, the city of Irving agreed to lease the stadium site to the DOT for 10 years and $15.4 million. TxDot will use the stadium site as a staging area for the construction of the stacks. Additionally, while the new junctions are being constructed the local transit agency, DART, will construct the Orange Line (the region’s 5th main light rail line) through the weaving ramps. The project is set to cost more than half a billion dollars, and has already been budgeted through 2010. It’s set to open in 2011, although some ramps will be open sooner.
Take a look at the junctions now, on google maps, and below the TxDot schematics for the new junctions. Click the smaller image for a larger one.

https://www.aaroads.com/Justin/txstadsmall.jpg