DFW, web site for proposed Blacklands Turnpike

[MaxConcrete]

Official web site
http://www.cottonbeltcorridor.com/?portfolio_cats=blacklands-turnpike-lando-greenville

Opposition web site
http://www.notollroad.com/

News Report
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/blog/2013/10/proposed-blacklands-turnpike-would.html

The official web site has plenty of feel-good text but virtually no useful information about the project. The opposition web site does have a map of the railroad corridor. It isn't clear to me if the turnpike is envisioned to connect into the Bush Turnpike. If it just stops at Lavon, it is difficult to see how it makes sense.

The regional planning agency (NCTCOG) has just launched a study to determine if this project should be added to the long-term plan. I'm thinking that if there is no government money involved, the powers (ie TxDOT, cities) will support it because it will relieve them of responsibility for providing this infrastructure.

[NE2]

Holy crap propaganda. They even include a quote from St. Ronnie Raygun.

Here's a more useful site: http://nctcog.org/trans/corridor/blacklands.asp (including documents under "Recent Meetings")
It's just a preliminary concept, but it looks like it would run west to the Pigbutt.

[Road Hog]

No disrespect to Farmersville, but it's a turnpike to nowhere.

[Greybear]

Amen to that!!!

[Chris]

2012 traffic data can be viewed here;

http://www.dot.state.tx.us/apps/statewide_mapping/StatewidePlanningMap.html

Traffic in this area is very low, only FM 6 (which runs along the proposed alignment) carries a few thousand vehicles per day.

This plan from Lavon to Greenville will result in the turnpike terminating at SH 78, which is an urban arterial, but not with a preserved ROW for a toll road / freeway in the median like SH 114, SH 170, SH 360, etc.

[MaxConcrete]

The bounds of the NCTCOG study extend to the Bush Turnpike. I'm thinking that if NCTCOG endorses the Turnpike it will include a connection to the Bush Turnpike, since from a transportation perspective that's the only way it makes sense. But that will probably add greatly to the cost since the area approaching the Bush Turnpike is more urbanized.

I think the main purpose of the turnpike is to promote real estate development in the corridor. I don't know if the private firm proposing the toll road has connections to land development interests, but I'm thinking that the turnpike itself may not be the money-maker. The associated real estate development will be the money-maker. The opposition web site has a site plan for some kind of development. Of course there would be much more if the turnpike is built.

[rantanamo]

The east is the next frontier for DFW as the north gets further and further away from DFW airport.  Eastern DFW isn't growing as fast as the north, but its definitely accelerating.  Vastly different place than it was 5 years ago.  Lots of large subudivisions planned in that corridor as well.

[Henry]

Good grief, another Turnpike for DFW???

[MaxConcrete]

It looks like the regional planning council is going to recommend the addition of this toll road to the regional plan. The western section appears to be certain for a recommendation, and the existence of the private funding makes this somewhat of a no-brainer for the council. As an added plus, it would feed more traffic into the Bush turnpike - more toll revenue for NTTA.

As the presentation link below shows, they will recommend connecting it into the Bush Turnpike and they are estimating 90,000 vehicles per day at the connection.
http://www.nctcog.org/trans/committees/rtc/Item_8.rtc050814.pdf

Video see item 8
http://nctcog.swagit.com/play/05082014-605

Of course, once it is added to the regional plan, there will need to be an alignment study and the full NEPA process, and (like any project) opposition is likely. There was opposition to the Bush Turnpike in Garland in the 1980s and 1990s.

[MaxConcrete]

This new proposed toll road appears in the official project listing of the newly-updated version of the TxDOT Unified Transportation Plan with a project cost of $542 million. The Hunt county line is near Josephine, which is about 2/3's of the distance from the Bush Turnpike to Greenville.

This is further evidence that there is political support behind this project and it is likely to happen. The document is showing a 2019 date for construction, but that of course is preliminary. I could see it moving forward sooner if the money is available.

See page 406 (page 50 of the Dallas section)  http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/tpp/utp/2015-2024-unified-transportation-plan.pdf

[MaxConcrete]

The project has been renamed the Northeast Gateway Turnpike

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2014/08/22/digging-into-details-proposed-toll-road-to.html

The article says that the most likely alignment includes a two-mile-long bridge over Lake Ray Hubbard to avoid cities which appear to be opposing the project. Nevertheless, this article below says that a 2015 construction start is desired (but highly unlikely in my opinion since a route has not even been selected yet)

http://www.sachsenews.com/articles/templates/news.asp?articleid=2816&zoneid=45

[Guysdrive780]

I'm glad someone is talking about this. A Tollway idea that can help people that live in Greenville, TX to get to Collin Co easier sounds great. But making it a tollway, ugg. Northeast Gateway doesn't seem like a good name. Blacklands is a better name. Southwest Corridor was the old name for Chisholm Trail.

[txstateends]

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/20140922-angry-crowd-opposes-tollway-link-between-bush-turnpike-i-30.ece

Opposition is growing to the turnpike.  A public meeting about the initial plans overflowed a room at a local elementary school to the point that a representative from the local fire department deemed it too dangerous to continue having the meeting.  Last night a 1500-seat auditorium was nearly packed with interested parties, who were largely opposed or were at least questioning the private firm's intentions (the firm not being NTTA or TxDOT).  Many are unhappy that an exact routing has not been chosen yet.

[Greybear]

Everyone has been claiming that this toll road will connect with the Bush Turnpike, but the one question that has yet to be answered is where will it connect with I-30?  Everyone is saying in the area of Greenville, but where EXACTLY in the Greenville area.  I live in Greenville and we still haven't gotten a clear answer on that.

[dariusb]

I wonder will this route help so people won't have to depend on 380 so much?  I live in E. Texas and sometimes have to travel to Wichita Falls. I take I-30 to Greenville and then 380 to 287 before heading north on that. I like that route better than Hwy 82 which is 2 lane a lot of the way but traffic on 380 can be a mess, especially between Denton and McKinney.

[txstateends]

More hearings for the NE Gateway are planned, but smaller ones:

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/blog/2014/09/ten-public-meetings-planned-for-northeast-gateway.html?page=all

[dfwmapper]

I wonder will this route help so people won't have to depend on 380 so much?  I live in E. Texas and sometimes have to travel to Wichita Falls. I take I-30 to Greenville and then 380 to 287 before heading north on that. I like that route better than Hwy 82 which is 2 lane a lot of the way but traffic on 380 can be a mess, especially between Denton and McKinney.

Is the 4 laning of 82 between Bells and Bonham done yet? That should really improve the busiest stretch. The upgrades (turn lanes+passing lanes) between Paris and the Lamar/Fannin County line should help too once that finishes next summer.

[Road Hog]

I wonder will this route help so people won't have to depend on 380 so much?  I live in E. Texas and sometimes have to travel to Wichita Falls. I take I-30 to Greenville and then 380 to 287 before heading north on that. I like that route better than Hwy 82 which is 2 lane a lot of the way but traffic on 380 can be a mess, especially between Denton and McKinney.

Is the 4 laning of 82 between Bells and Bonham done yet? That should really improve the busiest stretch. The upgrades (turn lanes+passing lanes) between Paris and the Lamar/Fannin County line should help too once that finishes next summer.

82 is now 4-lane from Bonham all the way to Wichita Falls. The only real slow spot is where the highway goes through towns like Gainesville, Muenster, etc. The newer part of 82 bypasses towns. There is a 2-lane bypass around Clarksville now, too.

[DJStephens]

Seems at first glance to be another pig in a poke.  TXDOT also seems to have been sliding backwards for at least two decades - in terms of design and prioritization.   Have noticed a lot of construction in the El Paso area, much overdue, but it comes with a lot of frills and unnecessary architectural excess.   Examples including - inlays on columns, mast lighting, silly details along Interstate 10, and more.   

[dariusb]

Seems at first glance to be another pig in a poke.  TXDOT also seems to have been sliding backwards for at least two decades - in terms of design and prioritization.   Have noticed a lot of construction in the El Paso area, much overdue, but it comes with a lot of frills and unnecessary architectural excess.   Examples including - inlays on columns, mast lighting, silly details along Interstate 10, and more.   

That's kind of like on our freeway loop here in the Texarkana area. They have state symbols of Texas etched into the concrete under overpasses. I'm like enough of the superfluous s**t just as long as the road is built is what matters.

[robbones]

Arkansas is starting to do that as well. If a bridge is on a state border, then imo, would be fine to do that.

[rte66man]

I wonder will this route help so people won't have to depend on 380 so much?  I live in E. Texas and sometimes have to travel to Wichita Falls. I take I-30 to Greenville and then 380 to 287 before heading north on that. I like that route better than Hwy 82 which is 2 lane a lot of the way but traffic on 380 can be a mess, especially between Denton and McKinney.

Is the 4 laning of 82 between Bells and Bonham done yet? That should really improve the busiest stretch. The upgrades (turn lanes+passing lanes) between Paris and the Lamar/Fannin County line should help too once that finishes next summer.

82 is now 4-lane from Bonham all the way to Wichita Falls. The only real slow spot is where the highway goes through towns like Gainesville, Muenster, etc. The newer part of 82 bypasses towns. There is a 2-lane bypass around Clarksville now, too.

Not so fast.....

82 between Henrietta and Nocona is still 2 lane.

[US81]

Seems at first glance to be another pig in a poke.  TXDOT also seems to have been sliding backwards for at least two decades - in terms of design and prioritization.   Have noticed a lot of construction in the El Paso area, much overdue, but it comes with a lot of frills and unnecessary architectural excess.   Examples including - inlays on columns, mast lighting, silly details along Interstate 10, and more.   

That's kind of like on our freeway loop here in the Texarkana area. They have state symbols of Texas etched into the concrete under overpasses. I'm like enough of the superfluous s**t just as long as the road is built is what matters.

There's a lot of regional variation with really cool artwork. I especially like those cool blue back-lit 5point stars in the Waco area; I cannot remember where the adobe-red cacti are, somewhere else is the bucking bronc silhouette, etc. That's great . . . except our road funds are scarce, and needed projects are going unfunded, so why is money being spent on art? Let the high school and college art majors or community artists volunteer their time, have fundraisers for the materials, etc.

OK, off soapbox.

[dfwmapper]

Not so fast.....

82 between Henrietta and Nocona is still 2 lane.

The new lanes between Bonham and Bells aren't open yet either.

[Bobby5280]

There's a lot of regional variation with really cool artwork. I especially like those cool blue back-lit 5point stars in the Waco area; I cannot remember where the adobe-red cacti are, somewhere else is the bucking bronc silhouette, etc. That's great . . . except our road funds are scarce, and needed projects are going unfunded, so why is money being spent on art? Let the high school and college art majors or community artists volunteer their time, have fundraisers for the materials, etc.

The problem is there's a lot of people who look at super highways as ugly, huge eye sores. It's one of the things anti roads people seize upon. The facilities are insanely expensive to build regardless if bridge columns and sound barriers are artistically embellished or not. If a state is going to spend hundreds of millions of tax dollars on a new interchange the finished project shouldn't look like hell.

Controlled access super highways are often the main gateways into a city and add to a visitor's visual impression of the city. If the road's prominent features are designed in a clunky, function-only manner reminiscent of the 1970's the road will do more to detract rather than be a positive addition to the city's environment. An ugly, clunky looking interchange will stay ugly looking for decades. It's not something that could disappear in just a few years, like some flea bag business' home made sign with lettering made out of electrical tape.

I strongly doubt the Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet models jets on the bridge columns of the I-110/I-10 interchange in Pensacola, FL made up a significant percentage of the cost of that interchange project. Nevertheless, it's something I was pleasantly surprised to see the first time I saw it and now it's something I look forward to seeing when on road trips to Florida. It's not just another generic looking interchange.