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DFW Projects Thread

Started by austrini, July 06, 2009, 04:12:16 PM

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-- US 175 --

Quote from: bwana39
I manage to mess up I-20 EB at I-635 in southeast Dallas because you execute to the left to take a right turn.  For some years, I-20 turned off of LBJ Freeway(**)  to the right. At some point, they completely rebuilt the intersection to eliminate the I-20 exit and create an exit to the right for I-635.  Now, it is counterintuitive to me and I wind up going on to US-80 freeway to make the turn to the east.  That said, we no longer turn off to stay on....

** Originally LBJ Freeway was signed as IH-635 from I-35 to I-35. To the north, I-635 (LBJ) has since extended to SH-121 north of DFW Airport. I-20 was rerouted around the south of Dallas along LBJ and I-635 was truncated at I-20.

That might get fixed in the future.  The TxDOT Project Tracker list shows a redo of the US 175/I-20 interchange that has a listed cost projection of $200,000,000.  IMO, the only reason for multi-million-dollar work there would be for new separate ramps for each direction of I-20 from US 175, as well as one solely to connect to I-635.  This would alleviate much of the weaving and choosing that occurs there now.  I'm not sure how much this redo would do for those like bwana39 who feel that the I-20 exit to I-635 is now more difficult and less intuitive than it was originally.  I don't remember if the proposed project has a timeline yet.


MaxConcrete

#651
Here are some project updates as of last weekend

US 175 SM Wright freeway removal: overpasses and embankment are removed at Heggins Street and Pine Street. Overpasses at Metropolitan and Pennsylvania are still intact and in use. Northbound traffic can enter the freeway main lanes north of Pine Street. Southbound traffic must exit at the Metropolitan exit, and the freeway to the south is closed (but remains intact to north of Pine).
Photos: http://dfwfreeways.com/us175/construction-removal

DFW Connector: all work appears to be complete. This includes the new ramps to IH-635 and the new northbound collector to FM 2499.

Collin County Outer loop. The frontage road (south side, future eastbound road) from DNT to Preston is open to traffic. The full 500-foot-wide corridor is clearly visible in this area since utilities are relocated on the corridor edges.

DNT main lanes at US 380: the bridge for the new main lanes is around 80% complete

SH 121 Rayburn Turnpike new lanes Coppell to McKinney: Work is proceeding well from Coppell to the DNT. I don't know about east of DNT since I didn't go there.

SH 183/Loop 12 interchange: Work is progressing quickly on the east side of the project, especially on the connections to SH 482.
The last 5 photos in this set (starting with the signpost including SH 482) are new photos: http://dfwfreeways.com/sh183/construction

SH 114 signature bridge: The bridge looks like it is complete, but it is still not open to traffic or pedestrians. Photo: http://dallasfreeways.com/dfwfreeways/sh114/roadside/20210619-21_165-1200.jpg

LBJ East: Work is progressing faster than I expected for the new interchange at IH-30. The official project site has monthly aerial photos https://635east.com/ that show the main lanes well
Photos at IH-30 interchange: http://dfwfreeways.com/i635/construction-lbj-east

IH-35E Carrollton (IH-635 to Bush Turnpike): right-of-way clearance is nearly complete. The only two large structures remaining are an office building at address 13515 and a smaller building at 14005. The large U-Haul facility and everything around it is cleared. The estimated $700 million design-build job is expected to be awarded within a few months.

IH-30 Margaret McDermott bridge pedestrian facility: It is open and is very nice. But it was totally deserted during my long visit. (I was the only person there for around an hour on a Saturday!)
Photos: http://dfwfreeways.com/i30-dallas/roadside-pedestrian-bridge

IH-35E downtown Collector-Distributors: Both directions are open but not fully complete. They already seem to have a huge benefit to IH-35E through traffic. Going southbound on IH-35E I was expecting the usual backup starting around Oak Lawn. But there was no backup. IH-35 was flowing freely because the back up to get onto Woodall Rodgers is now on the collector-distributor.
Two new photos at the end of this photo set: http://dfwfreeways.com/i35e-north/construction-downtown-collector

IH-35E Southern Gateway project: Work is progressing quickly. New pavement is in use in many areas. The new pavement is very smooth. The official web site has regularly updated aerial photos.

IH-30/SH 360 Interchange Arlington: work continues to proceed at a glacial pace. There was only a small amount of progress since my last visit 10 months ago.
Four new photos at the end of this photo set: http://dfwfreeways.com/i30-landry/construction-360

IH-820 northeast Fort Worth: Work is proceeding well on the south side of the project, from West Hurst to Randol Mill. Nearly all the piers for the long elevated connection ramps around Trinity Blvd are built, and some beams and bridge deck are done. North of Hurst road there is minimal progress.

SH 170 main lanes: Work is proceeding the fastest at IH-35W, where the new direct connection ramps have most of the piers in place. Work on the main lanes is just getting underway in most places with some earthwork.

SH 199 Lake Worth bridge: Work is proceeding well, with piers in place on both sides on land. Work is just getting started for the actual bridge, with a construction barge in position. Eastbound traffic near IH-820 was backed up on Sunday around noon, so I'm thinking the main lane connections to IH-820 need to be done in the near future.

US 380 Denton County: I drove on the section from 1385 to 720. This section is under study as a candidate for freeway upgrade, and there is a lengthy meeting report on the study web site. There is more commercial development in this section than I realized. It will be very costly to upgrade this section to a freeway. However, it will be politically feasible since nearly all the properties are lower-tier commercial properties like strip centers and convenience stores (as opposed to residential areas, which can't be cleared). There is not yet a recommendation for the alignment. It looks like most comments support the blue (existing 380) alignment, but the summary report does not have any statistics of the survey.
http://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/projects/us-highways/us-380-denton-county-feasibility-study





www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

-- US 175 --

Sounds like the only project you didn't mention is the Southeast Connector (I-20/I-820/US 287) in Fort Worth, but it's early in the process.

Amazing how *still* far behind I-30/TX 360 is.

More amazing how short-sighted planning has been for US 380.  TPTB spent way too long on their chicken/egg dilemma when they should have actually done something constructive yeeears ago.

I guess TX 114 (Rhome to Roanoke) should have been taken seriously much sooner, as well.

MaxConcrete

Quote from: -- US 175 -- on June 26, 2021, 06:44:32 PM
Sounds like the only project you didn't mention is the Southeast Connector (I-20/I-820/US 287) in Fort Worth, but it's early in the process.

Amazing how *still* far behind I-30/TX 360 is.

More amazing how short-sighted planning has been for US 380.  TPTB spent way too long on their chicken/egg dilemma when they should have actually done something constructive yeeears ago.

The Southeast connector is still in the right-of-way acquisition phase, and there is only a small amount of ROW needed. The project is listed for September 2021 bidding with an estimated cost of $1.684 billion.

While NCTCOG has mostly done excellent planning work in North Texas, they certainly dropped the ball on US 380. I think the growth was just too fast, with other projects regionwide needing attention first and when they could focus attention on 380 it was too late. But I think it will get done, hopefully on the blue alignment. It's just going to take more time and money.
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

Road Hog

Quote from: MaxConcrete on June 26, 2021, 06:01:13 PM
Here are some project updates as of last weekend

US 175 SM Wright freeway removal: overpasses and embankment are removed at Heggins Street and Pine Street. Overpasses at Metropolitan and Pennsylvania are still intact and in use. Northbound traffic can enter the freeway main lanes north of Pine Street. Southbound traffic must exit at the Metropolitan exit, and the freeway to the south is closed (but remains intact to north of Pine).
Photos: http://dfwfreeways.com/us175/construction-removal

DFW Connector: all work appears to be complete. This includes the new ramps to IH-635 and the new northbound collector to FM 2499.

Collin County Outer loop. The frontage road (south side, future eastbound road) from DNT to Preston is open to traffic. The full 500-foot-wide corridor is clearly visible in this area since utilities are relocated on the corridor edges.

DNT main lanes at US 380: the bridge for the new main lanes is around 80% complete

SH 121 Rayburn Turnpike new lanes Coppell to McKinney: Work is proceeding well from Coppell to the DNT. I don't know about east of DNT since I didn't go there.

SH 183/Loop 12 interchange: Work is progressing quickly on the east side of the project, especially on the connections to SH 482.
The last 5 photos in this set (starting with the signpost including SH 482) are new photos: http://dfwfreeways.com/sh183/construction

SH 114 signature bridge: The bridge looks like it is complete, but it is still not open to traffic or pedestrians. Photo: http://dallasfreeways.com/dfwfreeways/sh114/roadside/20210619-21_165-1200.jpg

LBJ East: Work is progressing faster than I expected for the new interchange at IH-30. The official project site has monthly aerial photos https://635east.com/ that show the main lanes well
Photos at IH-30 interchange: http://dfwfreeways.com/i635/construction-lbj-east

IH-35E Carrollton (IH-635 to Bush Turnpike): right-of-way clearance is nearly complete. The only two large structures remaining are an office building at address 13515 and a smaller building at 14005. The large U-Haul facility and everything around it is cleared. The estimated $700 million design-build job is expected to be awarded within a few months.

IH-30 Margaret McDermott bridge pedestrian facility: It is open and is very nice. But it was totally deserted during my long visit. (I was the only person there for around an hour on a Saturday!)
Photos: http://dfwfreeways.com/i30-dallas/roadside-pedestrian-bridge

IH-35E downtown Collector-Distributors: Both directions are open but not fully complete. They already seem to have a huge benefit to IH-35E through traffic. Going southbound on IH-35E I was expecting the usual backup starting around Oak Lawn. But there was no backup. IH-35 was flowing freely because the back up to get onto Woodall Rodgers is now on the collector-distributor.
Two new photos at the end of this photo set: http://dfwfreeways.com/i35e-north/construction-downtown-collector

IH-35E Southern Gateway project: Work is progressing quickly. New pavement is in use in many areas. The new pavement is very smooth. The official web site has regularly updated aerial photos.

IH-30/SH 360 Interchange Arlington: work continues to proceed at a glacial pace. There was only a small amount of progress since my last visit 10 months ago.
Four new photos at the end of this photo set: http://dfwfreeways.com/i30-landry/construction-360

IH-820 northeast Fort Worth: Work is proceeding well on the south side of the project, from West Hurst to Randol Mill. Nearly all the piers for the long elevated connection ramps around Trinity Blvd are built, and some beams and bridge deck are done. North of Hurst road there is minimal progress.

SH 170 main lanes: Work is proceeding the fastest at IH-35W, where the new direct connection ramps have most of the piers in place. Work on the main lanes is just getting underway in most places with some earthwork.

SH 199 Lake Worth bridge: Work is proceeding well, with piers in place on both sides on land. Work is just getting started for the actual bridge, with a construction barge in position. Eastbound traffic near IH-820 was backed up on Sunday around noon, so I'm thinking the main lane connections to IH-820 need to be done in the near future.

US 380 Denton County: I drove on the section from 1385 to 720. This section is under study as a candidate for freeway upgrade, and there is a lengthy meeting report on the study web site. There is more commercial development in this section than I realized. It will be very costly to upgrade this section to a freeway. However, it will be politically feasible since nearly all the properties are lower-tier commercial properties like strip centers and convenience stores (as opposed to residential areas, which can't be cleared). There is not yet a recommendation for the alignment. It looks like most comments support the blue (existing 380) alignment, but the summary report does not have any statistics of the survey.
http://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/projects/us-highways/us-380-denton-county-feasibility-study
The Loop 9 segment between I-35E and I-45 will be let next month. The Loop 9 segment between US 67 and I-35E had its public meeting a year and a half ago, so we'll see.

I need to walk back my progress report on the Collin County Outer Loop between Preston Road and Custer Road. The section immediately east of Preston is nearly ready to open, but apparently that portion of the project was expedited because of the imminent opening of a Collin College campus.The rest of that segment is barely in the "breaking ground" stage.

Stephane Dumas

Google Streetview showed some progress of the construction of service roads on I-30 at Grand Prairie on this shot taken in March 2021. https://goo.gl/maps/8X5eW5ioUrJELDDf7

Brian556

FM 1171 extension from I-35W west to FM 156 at Justin: TxDOT is holding a virtual public meeting for the project. There will be a bridge over FM 156, the BNSF Ft Worth Sub, and the GE test track. Another bridge will be over Denton Creek. What is unusual is hat the project will contain both urban and rural sections. FM 1171 will meet FM 156 at John Wiley Rd on the south side of Justin

https://www.crosstimbersgazette.com/2021/07/05/txdot-to-hold-virtual-public-meeting-about-fm-1171-improvements/
http://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/FM1171

I-35E ROW clearance update in Lewisville. ROW cleared from Corporate north to Business 121, taking property mostly from auto dealerships. I did not check and further south. City Of Lewisville removed their water tower along I-35E from the water system, and will demolish it. They said this is because it reached the end of its life, and did not mention it being related to the I-35E project.

Road Hog

Quote from: Brian556 on July 10, 2021, 09:28:56 PM
FM 1171 extension from I-35W west to FM 156 at Justin: TxDOT is holding a virtual public meeting for the project. There will be a bridge over FM 156, the BNSF Ft Worth Sub, and the GE test track. Another bridge will be over Denton Creek. What is unusual is hat the project will contain both urban and rural sections. FM 1171 will meet FM 156 at John Wiley Rd on the south side of Justin

https://www.crosstimbersgazette.com/2021/07/05/txdot-to-hold-virtual-public-meeting-about-fm-1171-improvements/
http://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/FM1171

I-35E ROW clearance update in Lewisville. ROW cleared from Corporate north to Business 121, taking property mostly from auto dealerships. I did not check and further south. City Of Lewisville removed their water tower along I-35E from the water system, and will demolish it. They said this is because it reached the end of its life, and did not mention it being related to the I-35E project.
Too bad about the water tower. That's been a Lewisville landmark for forever.

wxfree

The construction plans for US 380 have been released, for the area from US 377 to Collin County.  Key changes are an increase from four lanes to six and converting the two-way left-turn lane to a median with crossovers.  Spot improvements include interchanges with overpasses at Oak Grove Lane, Navo Road, Gee Road, Championship Drive, and Legacy Drive, and some dual left turn lanes.
I'd like to buy a vowel, Alex.  What is E?

MaxConcrete

#659
Part of the northbound collector-distibutor will open this weekend. It's not clear to me if this is the final segment to be opened, or if there is more work to be done on the project. Last month it looked like everything else was already open.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/2021/07/30/txdot-to-open-new-downtown-lane-and-ramp-to-northbound-i-35e-this-weekend/

Quote
The downtown Dallas traffic layout will look a little different starting this weekend.

The Texas Department of Transportation will fully open a new lane and ramp to northbound Interstate 35E over Hi Line Drive overnight Friday and into early Saturday.

The existing northbound entrance ramp to I-35E at Continental Avenue/Lamar Street will be permanently closed.

This work is part of the $79 million Lowest Stemmons project to improve traffic flow and mobility with the addition of new ramps adjacent to the existing highway – one of the most congested highway segments in the state.

The project is part of TxDOT's Texas Clear Lanes effort to relieve congestion in major metropolitan areas.


Photo in the article is from December.
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

Plutonic Panda


Brian556

TxDOT reports that construction will begin soo to extend SH 114 freeway lanes over US 377 and UP Railroad in Roanoke
https://www.facebook.com/CityofRoanokeTX/photos/a.572656479421818/4664628593557899/

Bobby5280

Extending the TX-114 freeway past the US-377 intersection is very long overdue. Traffic jams up at that intersection almost any time of the day and even well into the night.

Really, the freeway needs to be extended past the I-35W intersection, beyond Texas Motor Speedway and to the West of the Northwest ISD school complex. Optimally, the freeway would go clear to the TX-114 junction with US-287 in Rhome. So much residential and business development is taking place along TX-114 in that area that it will soon be impossible to upgrade TX-114 to a freeway in that area.

austrini

I've been working on ROW acquisition on 35E and the regional planning COG just contracted to get regional aerials done every few months. So I figured I'd share the August ones if anyone is interested.

DNT @ 380


Outer Loop


SM Wright Relocation


Stadium Int.


170 @ 35W
AICP (2012), GISP (2020) | Formerly TX, now UK

Road Hog

DNT over 380 is long overdue and will be a gamechanger for northwestern Collin County.

MaxConcrete

I posted some photos I took this past weekend.

IH-35E Southern Gateway. Work is proceeding well and the final configuration (but not all traffic lanes) is now visible along most of the corridor.
http://dfwfreeways.com/i35e-south/driving-20210925





In the view below, beams for the deck for the park above the freeway are in place on the right side.


The deck for the park is underway
http://dfwfreeways.com/i35e-south/construction-park



Work on the interchange and 635 and 30 is moving quickly
http://dfwfreeways.com/i635/construction-lbj-east







Work on the SH 199 Lake Worth bridge is making good progress
http://dfwfreeways.com/sh199/construction-lake-worth-bridge







www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

Plutonic Panda

I really gotta say the more I see and use the 2-2-2-2 setup in Texas the more I realize just how much of a waste of space that is. I mean Jesus either toll the whole damn thing or don't do it at all. What is the point of essentially building a toll road in the middle of a four lane highway?

bwana39

#667
Quote from: Plutonic Panda on September 29, 2021, 05:50:01 PM
I really gotta say the more I see and use the 2-2-2-2 setup in Texas the more I realize just how much of a waste of space that is. I mean Jesus either toll the whole damn thing or don’t do it at all. What is the point of essentially building a toll road in the middle of a four lane highway?

The extra lanes in a lot of these cases are funded by non-TXDOT funding.
Let's build what we need as economically as possible.

Road Hog

Quote from: Plutonic Panda on September 29, 2021, 05:50:01 PM
I really gotta say the more I see and use the 2-2-2-2 setup in Texas the more I realize just how much of a waste of space that is. I mean Jesus either toll the whole damn thing or don't do it at all. What is the point of essentially building a toll road in the middle of a four lane highway?
I feel the same way when I see the *FREE* HOV lanes on 75 being underutilized while the other 4 lanes are bumper-to-bumper. Who's saving carbon again while idling in traffic?

Road Hog


This image barely gets my property.

Plutonic Panda

Quote from: Road Hog on September 29, 2021, 07:41:26 PM
Quote from: Plutonic Panda on September 29, 2021, 05:50:01 PM
I really gotta say the more I see and use the 2-2-2-2 setup in Texas the more I realize just how much of a waste of space that is. I mean Jesus either toll the whole damn thing or don't do it at all. What is the point of essentially building a toll road in the middle of a four lane highway?
I feel the same way when I see the *FREE* HOV lanes on 75 being underutilized while the other 4 lanes are bumper-to-bumper. Who's saving carbon again while idling in traffic?
Maybe they work well in certain areas but I seriously question the HOV lanes in LA and how well they actually help with anything. I get the point is encouraged carpooling but they usually don't flow much faster than the GP lanes if traffic is backed up and I really feel like they make traffic worse for the whole highway since the require merging across to the left side in order to use them. That no doubt slows other traffic down in the process.

If in fact the HOV lanes are flowing next to backed up traffic(which is rare) it isn't all that comforting to be moving 60+ MPH given how often people violate the merging laws. I do feel as if they work a bit better in OC as it seems more people use them for longer distance commuting than LA. Just my two cents on the HOV thing.

I know this cost would be astronomical but they need to give 75 the 635 treatment with 3 additional toll lanes on the lower level.

Bobby5280

I agree the 2-2-2-2 arrangements in certain parts of metro DFW is pretty silly wastes of space (and money). IMHO if a super highway is going to have 4 carriageways the outer "free" lanes ought to be at least 4 lanes in each direction. With only 2 or 3 free lanes in each direction it's really easy for traffic jams to happen at any time of day.

But maybe the lack of free lanes is a scam to attempt forcing people to use the toll lanes. A few months ago I drove through Fort Worth on I-35W during a weeknight. It was past the evening rush, around 8pm by the time I reached the US-287/I-35W split. But I wound up having to use the toll express lanes on I-35W anyway because the free lanes were jammed up North past the I-820 interchange. It was ridiculous. Oh, and the tolls are variable rate too -with multiple toll gates along the way.

I'm always quick to level with people here in Oklahoma who gripe about our turnpike tolls that we're getting a pretty serious bargain compared with tolls almost everywhere else.

austrini

The Outer Loop is actually county funded, they bought all the ROW for it. So I'm not sure if the county is going to pay for the whole thing or if they'll contract it out to a toll provider. Once it hits Denton County it's planned but there isn't any ROW taken yet so I'm not sure if Denton County's even budgeted for it.
AICP (2012), GISP (2020) | Formerly TX, now UK

I-35

Quote from: austrini on September 30, 2021, 10:22:01 AM
The Outer Loop is actually county funded, they bought all the ROW for it. So I'm not sure if the county is going to pay for the whole thing or if they'll contract it out to a toll provider. Once it hits Denton County it's planned but there isn't any ROW taken yet so I'm not sure if Denton County's even budgeted for it.

Has there been any further talk about DNT extending into Grayson County?  It's been a few years since I've seen any updates on it.  As an aside, I still would like to put my two cents in about adding a DNT West spur to act as a reliever for 35.


austrini

That spur would be epic. Winstar should sponsor it (seriously)  :spin:

The DNT to Grayson County is kind of interesting because that county isn't part of the NTTA's operating area and it's in a different district both for planning and the DOT. So I dont know if the NTTA would have to get special permission to run it or if it would become a TxDOT road at the county line or how that works. There isn't any ROW acquisition past Celina but it's in (two) long term plans.
AICP (2012), GISP (2020) | Formerly TX, now UK



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