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TxDOT starts process for IH 45 full 3x3 Houston-Dallas

Started by MaxConcrete, May 28, 2020, 01:51:12 PM

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MaxConcrete

http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot/ppd/meetings/052620/presentation.pdf

Length: 90 miles. This appears to be all the remaining 2x2 highway (work on the 2x2 at Huntsville is separate)
Estimated cost: $2.5 billion,  $2.4 billion for construction plus $122 million for administrative
Timeline: Work included in the consultant contract runs through 2028, so actual construction probably starts in the 2030s

As per the current TxDOT standard, the proposed section is the 3x3 with no median, center concrete barrier and full inner and outer 12-foot-wide shoulders. The existing IH 45 has some "scenic" sections with wide medians having natural foliage, and I expect those to remain.
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nguyenhm16

I've lived in Texas since 1985. During that time, there has generally always been construction on I-45 between Houston and Dallas. There was a brief period right before the started the Huntsville and Navarro County projects where I was traveling regularly between the two cities And where there didn't seem to be any roadwork. That cannot be allowed to happen again  :)

DJStephens

Quote from: MaxConcrete on May 28, 2020, 01:51:12 PM
http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot/ppd/meetings/052620/presentation.pdf

Length: 90 miles. This appears to be all the remaining 2x2 highway (work on the 2x2 at Huntsville is separate)
Estimated cost: $2.5 billion,  $2.4 billion for construction plus $122 million for administrative
Timeline: Work included in the consultant contract runs through 2028, so actual construction probably starts in the 2030s

As per the current TxDOT standard, the proposed section is the 3x3 with no median, center concrete barrier and full inner and outer 12-foot-wide shoulders. The existing IH 45 has some "scenic" sections with wide medians having natural foliage, and I expect those to remain.

Not greatly familiar with corridor, having been on it perhaps once.   Guessing this does not include full bridge replacements, rather rehabs and "going" into the median for the third lane in each direction.   So not a full reconstruction, a rehab and widening.   

sprjus4

Older bridges will likely be replaced in full.

Hopefully TxDOT has plans for a similar treatment on I-10 between San Antonio and Houston.

I-35 has already gotten 6 lane widening between Hillsboro (I-35E/W split) and San Antonio plus the SH-130 Austin Bypass.

mvak36

Quote from: sprjus4 on May 29, 2020, 11:13:37 AM
Older bridges will likely be replaced in full.

Hopefully TxDOT has plans for a similar treatment on I-10 between San Antonio and Houston.

I-35 has already gotten 6 lane widening between Hillsboro (I-35E/W split) and San Antonio plus the SH-130 Austin Bypass.

I wonder if that is all done now. There was a section near Waco that they were working on last year. I probably should have been paying more attention, but I remember most of it being 3-lanes.
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sprjus4

Quote from: mvak36 on May 29, 2020, 12:58:02 PM
I wonder if that is all done now. There was a section near Waco that they were working on last year. I probably should have been paying more attention, but I remember most of it being 3-lanes.
I avoided Waco on my drive through there last year due to heavy congestion and took SH-340, but I believe it's already 6 lanes through there presently, and is currently being widened to 8 lanes. The root cause of the significant traffic on-going (outside COVID) through there is the fact it's reduced to 4 lanes (2 lanes each way) for an extended period. This will not be a permanent problem once 8 lanes are complete.

kphoger

Quote from: mvak36 on May 29, 2020, 12:58:02 PM

Quote from: sprjus4 on May 29, 2020, 11:13:37 AM
Older bridges will likely be replaced in full.

Hopefully TxDOT has plans for a similar treatment on I-10 between San Antonio and Houston.

I-35 has already gotten 6 lane widening between Hillsboro (I-35E/W split) and San Antonio plus the SH-130 Austin Bypass.

I wonder if that is all done now. There was a section near Waco that they were working on last year. I probably should have been paying more attention, but I remember most of it being 3-lanes.

I believe it's scheduled to be completed in 2023, with a possible early completion date in 2022.
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MaxConcrete

Quote from: DJStephens on May 29, 2020, 10:45:02 AM
Not greatly familiar with corridor, having been on it perhaps once.   Guessing this does not include full bridge replacements, rather rehabs and "going" into the median for the third lane in each direction.   So not a full reconstruction, a rehab and widening.   

I'm virtually certain everything is going to be rebuilt from the underground up, like they are doing now on IH 45 south of Huntsville and on IH 10 west of Houston. I drove on IH-10 last week, and they have shifted traffic to the frontage roads and have totally ripped out all the original mainlane pavement. There was a small mountain of broken-up concrete where it was collected.

On IH 45 that is included in this planning effort, all of the pavement is original (or overlaid with asphalt). This work will start 2030s, and TxDOT is surely building it to last to 2100 and beyond, so I don't think they will recycle any pavement or bridges.

The recent expansion to 3x3 south of Corsicana retained the existing pavement and expanded into the median, but the pavement was not original, it dates from the 1980s or 1990s.
www.DFWFreeways.com
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sprjus4

Quote from: MaxConcrete on May 29, 2020, 04:46:23 PM
[I drove on IH-10 last week, and they have shifted traffic to the frontage roads and have totally ripped out all the original mainlane pavement. There was a small mountain of broken-up concrete where it was collected.
Is limited-access maintained through there, or does the freeway effectively end through the work zone?

bassoon1986

When I lived in DFW and drove to Houston a couple of times, I was surprised at how much south of Dallas was still 3 lanes. And it felt pretty busy too going down to 2 lanes even though the surrounding area was rural.

Are there other places with relatively short distance between 2 large population centers that you are surprised are still only 2 lanes per direction? San Antonio to Houston also has long range traffic on I-10, and are obviously 2 very large cities but there's still a good bit of distance. What's it like between Cincy and Dayton?

Smaller example, but Baton Rouge to New Orleans is only 80 miles but mostly 2 lanes on I-10. Lots of bridges and the Bonnet Carret Spillway to build over, though. I just mapped the 4 lanes section and it's actually 54 miles from the southernmost Baton Rouge exit to the I-310 merge in Kenner that puts it back at 6 lanes.


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Finrod

Quote from: bassoon1986 on May 29, 2020, 08:37:02 PM
Are there other places with relatively short distance between 2 large population centers that you are surprised are still only 2 lanes per direction? San Antonio to Houston also has long range traffic on I-10, and are obviously 2 very large cities but there's still a good bit of distance.
Atlanta, Georgia to Charlotte, North Carolina, are both 7-figure metro areas that are connected by I-85, approximately the same distance as Dallas to Houston.  I-85 is 2x2 most of the way, though all three states (GA, SC, NC) have plans in various stages of completion to widen their pieces to 3x3 or better.
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sprjus4

I-64 Richmond to Hampton Roads.

Once current projects are completed, there will only be 29 miles of 4 lane remaining. As funding allows, the remainder will be expanded to 6 lanes.

The lowest AADT on that 29 mile segment is around 60,000. Widening is needed, especially during peak weekends.

Chris

https://www.txdot.gov/apps/statewide_mapping/StatewidePlanningMap.html

The traffic volumes on I-45 are still relatively low on that stretch: mostly in the 32,000 - 37,000 range between Huntsville and Streetman.

It appears that the goal is to create a minimum of six lanes throughout the Texas Triangle on I-10, I-35 and I-45.

-- US 175 --

Quote from: Chris on May 30, 2020, 02:41:19 PM
https://www.txdot.gov/apps/statewide_mapping/StatewidePlanningMap.html

It appears that the goal is to create a minimum of six lanes throughout the Texas Triangle on I-10, I-35 and I-45.

It looks like I-35 between Denton and the Red River will get 3 laned each way, and the NCTCOG (I think it was them) has said they'd like to see I-20 east to the LA line also get 3 laned each way.

rte66man

Quote from: DJStephens on May 29, 2020, 10:45:02 AM
Quote from: MaxConcrete on May 28, 2020, 01:51:12 PM
http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot/ppd/meetings/052620/presentation.pdf

Length: 90 miles. This appears to be all the remaining 2x2 highway (work on the 2x2 at Huntsville is separate)
Estimated cost: $2.5 billion,  $2.4 billion for construction plus $122 million for administrative
Timeline: Work included in the consultant contract runs through 2028, so actual construction probably starts in the 2030s

As per the current TxDOT standard, the proposed section is the 3x3 with no median, center concrete barrier and full inner and outer 12-foot-wide shoulders. The existing IH 45 has some "scenic" sections with wide medians having natural foliage, and I expect those to remain.

Not greatly familiar with corridor, having been on it perhaps once.   Guessing this does not include full bridge replacements, rather rehabs and "going" into the median for the third lane in each direction.   So not a full reconstruction, a rehab and widening.   

Some of the bridges will have to be replaced as they are nearing the end of their useful life (most of that corridor was built in the late 60s/early 70's)
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RoadsByArco

Quote from: MaxConcrete on May 29, 2020, 04:46:23 PM
[I drove on IH-10 last week, and they have shifted traffic to the frontage roads and have totally ripped out all the original mainlane pavement. There was a small mountain of broken-up concrete where it was collected.
What are they exactly doing to 10 west of Houston? Are they widening it from 3 to 4 lanes in each direction? Or are they just widening the existing 2x2 configuration into 3x3?

sprjus4


longhorn

Hope they build in extra capacity like on I-35. It can be expanded to 4 lanes each way easily. Like they did on I35E between the split and south Dallas. When they expanded it to three lanes each way on the recent reconstruction part they just striped in another lane.

In_Correct

Quote from: longhorn on December 16, 2020, 05:06:05 PM
Hope they build in extra capacity like on I-35. It can be expanded to 4 lanes each way easily. Like they did on I35E between the split and south Dallas. When they expanded it to three lanes each way on the recent reconstruction part they just striped in another lane.

What is width of these new lanes?
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Bobby5280

#19
Much of the re-build of I-35 going North of Austin towards DFW has generously sized inner shoulders. But they're not wide enough to re-stripe into being travel lanes without violating Interstate standards. The inner shoulders in both directions are separated only by a concrete Jersey barrier. There is no additional room on the inside left. Current standards dictate at least a 4'-6' wide inner median.

If the 3x3 configuration of I-35 between Austin and the I-35E/W split was expanded to 4x4 the additional lane would have to be built to the outer right. There is room for that in most areas. However not many of the freeway bridges going over intersections were built to hold a full 4x4 configuration with proper shoulders.

Quote from: In_CorrectWhat is width of these new lanes?

The lanes on the re-built sections of I-35 appear to be 12' wide.

r15-1

Quote from: -- US 175 -- on May 30, 2020, 08:14:14 PM
Quote from: Chris on May 30, 2020, 02:41:19 PM
https://www.txdot.gov/apps/statewide_mapping/StatewidePlanningMap.html

It appears that the goal is to create a minimum of six lanes throughout the Texas Triangle on I-10, I-35 and I-45.

It looks like I-35 between Denton and the Red River will get 3 laned each way, and the NCTCOG (I think it was them) has said they'd like to see I-20 east to the LA line also get 3 laned each way.
The last time I checked, there may be a couple of I-20 3x3 projects scheduled for the mid to late 2020s with the rest of the work in the 2030s and 2040s.



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