DFW Projects Thread

[Brian556]

The new Woodall Rodgers Extension is open. It doesnt go anywhere, but its nice to look at.

I don't like this sign setup. it looks like "35E" was tacked on as an afterthought, even though it's far more important than Continental Av

Secondly, I don't like the "TO 75" without the mention of the Spur 366 designation. I know the sign on I-35E say "TO I-45/US 75", and the signs on I-345/US 75 say "TO I-35E".
I don't agree with this practice, I think the SPUR designation should always be shown.

[NE2]

I think the covered left panel will be for I-35E.

[txstateends]

Actually, I've seen pictures taken around the time of the dedication weekend events a few weeks ago, the signs weren't tarped, and the left one had "Riverfront Blvd" (the former Industrial Blvd.), while the Continental sign had no I-35E shield on it at all.

[NE2]

Interesting. The original plans had that exit signed for I-35E north only: http://www.projectpegasus.org/images/2015SCH0104_1122.pdf

[UptownRoadGeek]

You can actually see where it says Riverfront under the blue.

[txstateends]

The new Woodall Rodgers Extension is open. It doesnt go anywhere, but its nice to look at.

I don't like this sign setup. it looks like "35E" was tacked on as an afterthought, even though it's far more important than Continental Av

Secondly, I don't like the "TO 75" without the mention of the Spur 366 designation. I know the sign on I-35E say "TO I-45/US 75", and the signs on I-345/US 75 say "TO I-35E".
I don't agree with this practice, I think the SPUR designation should always be shown.

One bad thing about the Continental sign including the I-35E shield (other than it being last-minute, you guessed right) is that it's slightly misleading--there's nothing beforehand telling you that this ramp actually merges with the NB offramp from I-35E to Continental, then you come to the light at Continental.  No direct access to SB or NB I-35E.  You actually have to go through the Continental light if you want to go on north to I-35E; while if you want SB access to I-35E you have to go left on Continental under I-35E's bridge, then left again to get to the SB ramp.

There have actually been 3 places where there were "Spur 366" signs in recent years:
* The (now former) EB ramp from Industrial (now Riverfront) where the Woodall Rodgers main lanes originally began.
* The WB ramp from US 75 has one on the right concrete siding.
* Under one of the downtown street underpasses (prior to the deck park construction), a 2-sided one was on a post on the middle jersey barrier.

On US 75 SB, before the Woodall Rodgers exit, all the advance BGS assemblies (this has been a couple of sign updates ago now) had

SPUR                     TO          Interstate
366                                          35E

                       Waco

                     ____  MILE

(I don't know if any of the ones on I-35E approaching Woodall Rodgers ever had Spur 366 signs on them or not.)
I tried to do a Kurumi BGS but my computer is acting up about Java.  Anyway, it may have been as little as a few weeks, or as many as a few months, but in a short length of time the BGSs were removed and replaced with the ones seen on Google Street View (http://g.co/maps/bqbt9 , http://g.co/maps/sepxr , http://g.co/maps/aag9r) --which have been much more misleading, as none of I-35E is actually routed on Woodall Rodgers.  In recent weeks, though, all 3 of those have been updated with Clearview as well as clearer info:

  TO     Interstate
               35E

         Waco
       Denton

     _____ MILE(S)

While those could be even clearer with Spur 366 signs included, at least they're better than they were.

[txstateends]

Video update of the Bush Turnpike-TX 161 work in Grand Prairie:
http://www.nbcdfw.com/video/#!/traffic/stories/Construction-Continues-on-Bush-Turnpike/156466155

Most of the work shown is around the I-30 interchange.  The report says NTTA hopes to have the extension done by October.

[Road Hog]

Construction signs and orange barrels are up for U.S. 75 at the Grayson/Collin county line. Looks like the big rebuilding project between the county line and SH 121 North is about to start. Combined with the 75 widening through McKinney, this will make commuting interesting.

I wonder if the project includes stubs for the Outer Loop.

[austrini]

I work for the county, I will go dig up the plans for it today. I've specifically looked for stubs but havent ever seen any, right now its just using the existing diamond.

[Chris]

The loop is ultimately planned as a 10-lane mainline facility, so I guess we'll end up with another giant stack interchange.

[Chris]

http://www.co.collin.tx.us/commissioners_court/mobility_projects/tollway_ext.jsp

Collin County needs to update its page on the Dallas North Tollway.

"An extension of the Dallas North Tollway from Legacy Drive to Gaylord Parkway is currently underway and there are future plans for extending the tollway from SH 121 to US 380 and beyond."

This "currently underway" extension to Gaylord Parkway opened to traffic 8 years ago. The "future extension to US 380" also opened 5 years ago.

[austrini]

They've slightly altered the proposed alignment west of US 75, and there is a big stack at the Tollway extension - but for US 75 there isnt anything yet.

[txstateends]

Latest report on the I-635 work
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/19017524/stay-away-from-lbj-this-weekend

Meanwhile, the North Tarrant Express work has hit the halfway mark
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/video?clipId=7498200&autostart=true

[blawp]

Why was the Woodall Rodgers Extension even built?

[InterstateNG]

To annoy you, clearly.

[rte66man]

Why was the Woodall Rodgers Extension even built?

IIRC, thre are plans to extend it west and south to join I30.  This would be a relief route for Fort Worth-bound traffic.

rte66man

[blawp]

Where would it be connecting with the 30?

[austrini]

There were no plans to connect it to any other freeway on the western end. The West Dallas neighborhood that it has for its western end is one of the poorest in the city, and property developers have long been eyeing it as a high-profit area. Lots of them donated money to build the bridge, in fact its named after a member of the Hunt family, which owns Rosewood (a large local land developer).

The poor people recently got the city to zone the area with height and density restrictions so condo towers can't be built.

I think I got all that right.

[Chris]

Are there plans to replace the I-30 Trinity River Bridge? It narrows down from 8 lanes plus a reversible to just six lanes. It looks like a classic example of a bottleneck to me.

[austrini]

Yes, it is part of something called "Project Pegasus" http://www.projectpegasus.org/ (Pegasus is a symbol of Dallas) that they've been talking about doing for years and years. I'm not sure of the status. The I-30 bridge isnt as big of a bottleneck as the I-35E bridge is, but they're still both bad and probably about to fall down.

The Woodall Rodgers bridge was totally unnecessary but was built because of development opportunities/community revitalization (depending on who you ask).

[bugo]

The I-35E and I-30 bridges were supposed to be "signature spans" like the silly Spur 366 bridge, but they cheapened out and they're going to be plain girder bridges.  Silly or not, I'll take the signature span over the plain flat bridge.

[dfwtbear]

The I-35E and I-30 bridges were supposed to be "signature spans" like the silly Spur 366 bridge, but they cheapened out and they're going to be plain girder bridges.  Silly or not, I'll take the signature span over the plain flat bridge.

I-30 Bridge is still going to be a Calatrava bridge
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/03/02/dallas-margaret-hunt-hill-signature-bridge-opens/
http://keranews.org/post/makeover-margaret-mcdermott-designer-bridge

[bugo]

The I-35E and I-30 bridges were supposed to be "signature spans" like the silly Spur 366 bridge, but they cheapened out and they're going to be plain girder bridges.  Silly or not, I'll take the signature span over the plain flat bridge.

I-30 Bridge is still going to be a Calatrava bridge
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/03/02/dallas-margaret-hunt-hill-signature-bridge-opens/
http://keranews.org/post/makeover-margaret-mcdermott-designer-bridge

Thanks for the correction.  I had read that the 35E bridge was going to be a plain bridge and I assumed that the I-30 bridge was going to be the same way.  I hope it's better looking than the Spur 366 bridge is.

[dfwtbear]

The I-35E and I-30 bridges were supposed to be "signature spans" like the silly Spur 366 bridge, but they cheapened out and they're going to be plain girder bridges.  Silly or not, I'll take the signature span over the plain flat bridge.

I-30 Bridge is still going to be a Calatrava bridge
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/03/02/dallas-margaret-hunt-hill-signature-bridge-opens/
http://keranews.org/post/makeover-margaret-mcdermott-designer-bridge

Thanks for the correction.  I had read that the 35E bridge was going to be a plain bridge and I assumed that the I-30 bridge was going to be the same way.  I hope it's better looking than the Spur 366 bridge is.

I had heard that too that i_35 bridge will be plain.
Here is another link from the original plan on the Margaret McDermott Bridge I-30 Bridge:
http://www.thetrinitytrust.org/tttnewsJun07.pdf

[rantanamo]

Project Pegasus, was a plan for the entire mixmaster, I-30 downtown to the I-45 interchange  and I-35E up to the 183 split to be entirely rebuilt.  It was cancelled or "not pursued" anymore because funding couldn't be found for the tollway and now you have the "numbers" controversy.

The I-30 bridge and I-35E spans are to begin work either in December(2012) or January(2013).  The project is called The Horseshoe Project.  I-35 will be two spans just as it is currently.  The bids went out in the spring for the designs and we are supposed to get a look late summer or early fall at the design, which was part of the bid.  We have no idea what the bridge will look like as this was a TxDOT first in only giving safety and size parameters along with a dollar amount.  The I-30 bridge will be the Margaret McDermott signature bridge.  The design parameters were already shown to the public.  It will be designed around two large, or one large span that can support four portions of the bridge and run from levee to levee.   The other part of the "Horseshoe" is the connectors that make up the western half of the mixmaster.