Dallas: Bids opened for elimination of South Central Expressway freeway (US 175)

[Verlanka]

Google Maps now shows the eastbound ramp, but as of right now it won't give directions on it.

Why not just close the ramp?

[Flint1979]

That east bound curve on US 175 is the worst section of freeway in the DFW area. Good riddance!

I believe it was first built as a US 75 freeway which was a precursor to I-45. The southern extension is now SH 310. It makes you wonder if it was ever signed as I-45 before the modern I-45 opened to traffic.

US 175 has a 20 mph curve for through traffic, something like that doesn't belong on a mainline freeway.



The imagery on Google Earth is dated 9/8/2019 and you can see the project almost completed. But they don't seem to have widened I-45 beyond its existing six lanes. So there are basically twelve lanes of traffic merging into six at that location.

Heck I-75 has an exit to itself with a 25 mph curve in Detroit.

[debragga]

That east bound curve on US 175 is the worst section of freeway in the DFW area. Good riddance!

I believe it was first built as a US 75 freeway which was a precursor to I-45. The southern extension is now SH 310. It makes you wonder if it was ever signed as I-45 before the modern I-45 opened to traffic.

US 175 has a 20 mph curve for through traffic, something like that doesn't belong on a mainline freeway.



The imagery on Google Earth is dated 9/8/2019 and you can see the project almost completed. But they don't seem to have widened I-45 beyond its existing six lanes. So there are basically twelve lanes of traffic merging into six at that location.

Heck I-75 has an exit to itself with a 25 mph curve in Detroit.

This isn't an exit, it's the mainline.

[Flint1979]

That east bound curve on US 175 is the worst section of freeway in the DFW area. Good riddance!

I believe it was first built as a US 75 freeway which was a precursor to I-45. The southern extension is now SH 310. It makes you wonder if it was ever signed as I-45 before the modern I-45 opened to traffic.

US 175 has a 20 mph curve for through traffic, something like that doesn't belong on a mainline freeway.



The imagery on Google Earth is dated 9/8/2019 and you can see the project almost completed. But they don't seem to have widened I-45 beyond its existing six lanes. So there are basically twelve lanes of traffic merging into six at that location.

Heck I-75 has an exit to itself with a 25 mph curve in Detroit.

This isn't an exit, it's the mainline.

So is I-75 in this case. It has to run through an exit instead of a curve to stay on the mainline. The reason is because it switches freeways going from the Chrysler Freeway north of downtown to the Fisher Freeway south of downtown.

[debragga]

That east bound curve on US 175 is the worst section of freeway in the DFW area. Good riddance!

I believe it was first built as a US 75 freeway which was a precursor to I-45. The southern extension is now SH 310. It makes you wonder if it was ever signed as I-45 before the modern I-45 opened to traffic.

US 175 has a 20 mph curve for through traffic, something like that doesn't belong on a mainline freeway.



The imagery on Google Earth is dated 9/8/2019 and you can see the project almost completed. But they don't seem to have widened I-45 beyond its existing six lanes. So there are basically twelve lanes of traffic merging into six at that location.

Heck I-75 has an exit to itself with a 25 mph curve in Detroit.

This isn't an exit, it's the mainline.

So is I-75 in this case. It has to run through an exit instead of a curve to stay on the mainline. The reason is because it switches freeways going from the Chrysler Freeway north of downtown to the Fisher Freeway south of downtown.

k

[yakra]

What's the exit number for the new connector from I-45 south?

[Chris]

Exit 282:

[-- US 175 --]

New update::::
Just got an email earlier today from one of the local traffic reporters, who heard from a TxDOT spokesperson, who said westbound US 175 should open to I-45 by mid-April. That could change if weather is an issue in-between; at the latest, it would be May before all is fully done.

[In_Correct]

I promise you. It will rain.

[debragga]

Any updates on the westbound ramp?

[-- US 175 --]

Any updates on the westbound ramp?

I've heard none.  I've asked someone I work next door to who lives near the project zone, he's not been told anything.  I've asked one of the TV traffic reporters about it before, but I guess I need to try again.

[mrsman]

I've been hearing that the eastbound ramp is now open, but westbound is not. Also any eastbound traffic that exits from I-45 too early and takes the soon-to-be-demolished freeway portion is forced to exit before Dead Man's Curve, with a long detour to get back to US 175.

This is correct.

All SB traffic on S.M. Wright is forced to exit at Elsie Faye Heggins St. (formerly Hatcher St.). I don't know what the actual detour is, but I hope it's taking that to 2nd Ave., not driving through the neighborhood and using the Railroad Ave. entrance. For what it's worth, the BGSes along SB I-45 were replaced with new ones that only refer to S.M. Wright Freeway (no highway shield at all), and there's a portable VMS in the gore point at the exit directing SB US 175 traffic to use the new exit, but I didn't see any advance signage warning people of the change in traffic pattern.

Does it make any sense to label this portion of the SM Wright freeway (and the exit from I-45 at this point) as being part of TX-310?  Should there be some reference that TX-310 should exit here, but US 175 should take the new direct exit?

[-- US 175 --]

I've been hearing that the eastbound ramp is now open, but westbound is not. Also any eastbound traffic that exits from I-45 too early and takes the soon-to-be-demolished freeway portion is forced to exit before Dead Man's Curve, with a long detour to get back to US 175.

This is correct.

All SB traffic on S.M. Wright is forced to exit at Elsie Faye Heggins St. (formerly Hatcher St.). I don't know what the actual detour is, but I hope it's taking that to 2nd Ave., not driving through the neighborhood and using the Railroad Ave. entrance. For what it's worth, the BGSes along SB I-45 were replaced with new ones that only refer to S.M. Wright Freeway (no highway shield at all), and there's a portable VMS in the gore point at the exit directing SB US 175 traffic to use the new exit, but I didn't see any advance signage warning people of the change in traffic pattern.

Does it make any sense to label this portion of the SM Wright freeway (and the exit from I-45 at this point) as being part of TX-310?  Should there be some reference that TX-310 should exit here, but US 175 should take the new direct exit?

I haven't heard definitively whether TX 310 will be a part of S.M. Wright north of US 175 or not.  It will be interesting how it is signed along SB I-45, depending on what access the new US 175 section has to it.  My next-door colleague keeps saying the only exit he's seen after exiting I-45 is Municipal Dr., meaning no S.M. Wright or Bexar St. exits EB.  That would be quite awkward, as there is no option there to go back WB; all traffic connecting elsewhere in the neighborhood would have to do quite a bit of zig-zagging to at least get to Bexar, much less S.M. Wright.  Surely other exit(s) would be made available, depending on the distances between them.

[mrsman]

I've been hearing that the eastbound ramp is now open, but westbound is not. Also any eastbound traffic that exits from I-45 too early and takes the soon-to-be-demolished freeway portion is forced to exit before Dead Man's Curve, with a long detour to get back to US 175.

This is correct.

All SB traffic on S.M. Wright is forced to exit at Elsie Faye Heggins St. (formerly Hatcher St.). I don't know what the actual detour is, but I hope it's taking that to 2nd Ave., not driving through the neighborhood and using the Railroad Ave. entrance. For what it's worth, the BGSes along SB I-45 were replaced with new ones that only refer to S.M. Wright Freeway (no highway shield at all), and there's a portable VMS in the gore point at the exit directing SB US 175 traffic to use the new exit, but I didn't see any advance signage warning people of the change in traffic pattern.

Does it make any sense to label this portion of the SM Wright freeway (and the exit from I-45 at this point) as being part of TX-310?  Should there be some reference that TX-310 should exit here, but US 175 should take the new direct exit?

I haven't heard definitively whether TX 310 will be a part of S.M. Wright north of US 175 or not.  It will be interesting how it is signed along SB I-45, depending on what access the new US 175 section has to it.  My next-door colleague keeps saying the only exit he's seen after exiting I-45 is Municipal Dr., meaning no S.M. Wright or Bexar St. exits EB.  That would be quite awkward, as there is no option there to go back WB; all traffic connecting elsewhere in the neighborhood would have to do quite a bit of zig-zagging to at least get to Bexar, much less S.M. Wright.  Surely other exit(s) would be made available, depending on the distances between them.

I hope that more connections will become available in the near future.  Seeing as this is a work in progress, I imagine that something would be done to at least provide better connections for the immediate neighborhood.

Then again, sometimes it doesn't happen.  In the near-western suburbs of Baltimore, there is no easy way to get to any part of the neighborhood or the Security Square Mall without significant backtracking from I-70 coming from the west.   While there is an exit onto Security Blvd from 695, the ramps from 70 join 695 after those ramps have exited.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Baltimore,+MD/@39.301047,-76.7642827,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c803aed6f483b7:0x44896a84223e758!8m2!3d39.2903848!4d-76.6121893

[debragga]

The westbound ramp is expected to open July 7th

[-- US 175 --]

Just heard about this during traffic reports this morning.  This will mark the first use of Second Ave. for US 175 traffic (albeit briefly and temporarily) in 56 years.  So, oddly, just as Second Ave. was part of a US 175 transformation decades ago, it will figure again this weekend and next week with the long-awaited completion of US 175's new west terminus.

[-- US 175 --]

With the imminent completion of the US 175 realignment / new west terminus at hand this week, I took it upon myself to update the US 175 Wikipedia article.  The update not only includes the Dallas work, but other spots I discovered that were being worked on (or were done).  The exit-intersection list has also been updated.

I don't have the pics ready to post, but what BGSes that are new and put up, I have pics of, plus conditions (already-damaged barrier fence, graffiti tagging) between the March EB lanes completion time and the present as well.

[-- US 175 --]

I looked it over this morning, and the WB ramp is open now to I-45.  Finally,  the dumb dead-man's-curve interchange is gone!!  It only took 56 1/2 years, but I guess better late than never....

Traffic seemed to flow smoothly through the area this morning--which I guess, is the object of a good road improvement.  There were probably some gawkers and those with the "is it really done???" reaction while passing through.

Now, as the new lanes/ramp have opened, the exit ramp built to connect WB US 175 to TX 310-S.M. Wright and onto Lamar has been blocked off.  I guess this is to finish up what cleanup and rearranging needs to be done where the now-WB service road will intersect S.M. Wright at the new signal light that's already been installed.  Also this will give painters a chance to complete US 175 bridge deck trim and barrier/sound walls, including the ones that have been graffiti-tagged since they were built.

Something tells me it may be a while before anything that looks like END signage appears there (but they're not done with all the last little stuff, who knows, they may surprise me!).....

[debragga]

I drove it the other night as well, I love it. Good riddance to Dead Man's Curve!

[usends]

I was in Dallas last weekend, so checked out the new (2020) westernmost segment of US 175.  Big improvement for sure.  I was surprised to find that parts of SM Wright Frwy (old US 175) are still open to traffic... and US 175 signage has not yet been removed.  Heading south on I-45, there was a VMS stating "US 175 closed", and I mistakenly assumed that was in reference to the new US 175.  But it was actually referring to SM Wright (where all southbound traffic was being forced to turn off at Pine St).  Along that segment was another VMS, which referred to the route as "I-175".  Seems like TXDOT should stop referring to the old route by its old number and instead refer to it as "SM Wright".

[74/171FAN]

I was in Dallas last weekend, so checked out the new (2020) westernmost segment of US 175.  Big improvement for sure.  I was surprised to find that parts of SM Wright Frwy (old US 175) are still open to traffic... and US 175 signage has not yet been removed.  Heading south on I-45, there was a VMS stating "US 175 closed", and I mistakenly assumed that was in reference to the new US 175.  But it was actually referring to SM Wright (where all southbound traffic was being forced to turn off at Pine St).  Along that segment was another VMS, which referred to the route as "I-175".  Seems like TXDOT should stop referring to the old route by its old number and instead refer to it as "SM Wright".

Well I saw that the SM Wright is supposed to also become an extenstion of TX 310 at some point when the boulevard is complete.

[-- US 175 --]

I was in Dallas last weekend, so checked out the new (2020) westernmost segment of US 175.  Big improvement for sure.  I was surprised to find that parts of SM Wright Frwy (old US 175) are still open to traffic... and US 175 signage has not yet been removed.  Heading south on I-45, there was a VMS stating "US 175 closed", and I mistakenly assumed that was in reference to the new US 175.  But it was actually referring to SM Wright (where all southbound traffic was being forced to turn off at Pine St).  Along that segment was another VMS, which referred to the route as "I-175".  Seems like TXDOT should stop referring to the old route by its old number and instead refer to it as "SM Wright".

I looked around down there in the last few days, and was surprised by the signage at/along S.M. Wright.  There is a new shield sign assembly at the signal where the WB off-ramp from WB US 175 meets S.M. Wright.  It shows both SB and NB TX 310; I thought sure the TX 310 part of S.M. Wright would only be south of US 175.  The S.M. Wright exit from SB I-45 has new BGSes listing S.M. Wright but no numbered routes.  IMO it would be confusing to some drivers to have the new US 175 terminus/connection done at I-45, but yet still have old US 175 shields still up along parts of S.M. Wright that have not seen construction yet.

The S.M. Wright project otherwise is coming right along, with the old overpass embankments where 'Dead Man's Curve' was, as well as the one at Elsie Faye Heggins (ex-Hatcher St.), both have been removed, while work has started at the old Pine St. exit on its embankment.  The overpass deck over Pine has been removed.  Work has not started on Metropolitan, Pennsylvania, or Martin Luther King Blvd.  Nothing has started on the removal of the exit/connection to Good Latimer yet, either.

I took a look at Lamar St. nearby, and work on it has largely finished, but nothing has been done about the signage yet.  The Dallas city council voted that Lamar between I-30 by downtown, and S.M. Wright, should be renamed for Botham Jean, a young man sadly killed in his own apartment by a Dallas policewoman who somehow mistook Botham's apartment for her own.  The apartment complex and the Dallas PD headquarters are both along the same stretch of Lamar that the city council voted to rename.  The vote was a few weeks ago, but no street blades or BGSes have changed yet.

[motorola870]

The original agreement was to extend 310 north back to 45. I'm shocked it's not being renamed loop 310 if the number is available as it will be a full loop. I'm even more shocked it did not get the axe north of the rerouted US175 after the 2016 purge of excess routes according to TXDOT that saw several removals from the system in DFW. Including the lone business FM loop in North Texas.

[The Ghostbuster]

Is there a date for when the old US 175 S.M. Wright Freeway will be demolished? Or have they decided not to tear the freeway down?

[-- US 175 --]

Is there a date for when the old US 175 S.M. Wright Freeway will be demolished? Or have they decided not to tear the freeway down?

I'm not exactly sure how long it will take, but as I said upthread, the embankment where US 175 took the 'dead man's curve' where S.M. Wright meets C.F. Hawn Frwy., is gone now, as well as the embankment at Elsie Faye Heggins (ex- Hatcher).  The embankment at Pine St. is being removed now; the overpass bridge deck there is already gone.  S.M. Wright is still open at Metropolitan, Pennsylvania, and Martin Luther King Blvd. for now.  Some of the service roads are still passable, but full of barriers, bumps, and detours.  The plans to convert it into a parkway are still active.