Public meeting scheduled for March 14
https://www.txdot.gov/projects/hearings-meetings/dallas/sh114-from-international-parkway-to-riverside-drive.html (https://www.txdot.gov/projects/hearings-meetings/dallas/sh114-from-international-parkway-to-riverside-drive.html)
In June 2022 I posted about the DFW 2045 plan, mentioning that this project has been downsized by reducing managed lanes from 4 to 2, and reducing main lanes in Las Colinas from 8 to 6. Well, maybe the downsizing has enabled this project to proceed, perhaps because "no residential or non-residential structures are anticipated to be displaced at this time" for the right-of-way acquisition. In general, one regular main lane will be added in each direction.
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=31584.0 (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=31584.0)
The main news in this meeting announcement is that the project will include direct connectors. The location and number is not mentioned, but it is almost surely at SH 161.
It's not clear to me if missing sections of frontage roads will be built. There is no mention of the missing sections being built, so I'm assuming no.
The main question in my mind is when this can be funded. With the huge backlog of multi-billion$ projects in North Texas, it seems like the wait could be long. That's one reason I was surprised (but pleasantly surprised) to see this announcement.
I wonder if the 2 "piers to nowhere" who was planned to be used for a flyover ramp where TX-114 meet TX-161 will be finally being used or gived then TX-114 will get a complete overhaul, replaced with all-new ones?
The meeting presentation and schematics are online
https://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/SH114Irving (https://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/SH114Irving)
Observations
- Continuous minimum 4x4 main lanes between Spur 348 (Northwest Highway) and SH 121 (DFW Airport) with auxiliary lanes east of SH 121. 5x5 main lanes between SH 161 and Spur 348. 3x3 main lanes between Spur 348 and Rochelle (Las Colinas area). 1x1 managed lanes for entire length.
- New frontage roads are added (both directions) west of Belt Line. The only remaining missing section of frontage roads is eastbound between Esters and Belt Line. This section can be omitted because it is along the backside of houses with no access needed.
- There is a frontage road bypass lane (both directions) at MacArthur and Walnut Hill. This is due to no entrance/exit ramps from just east of SH 161 to Spur 348. This minimizes weaving/merging in this section. This also serves like an additional main lane, since it bypasses intersections.
- The interchange at SH 161 has four direct connectors added, all on the east side. The WB-SB ramp does not line up to the orphan piers, so the orphan piers will be demolished. The four connectors on the west side are shown as dashed lines in the schematic, and presumably will be added in a future project. The frontage roads for SH 161 are moved away from the main lanes to open up space for the direct connection ramps.
- Interchange at Spur 348 is reconfigured, with a substantial amount of ROW acquisition on the north side to provide a continuous westbound frontage road.
- Right of way acquisition is generally low, mostly narrow strips. Only 22.5 acres are needed. Some larger takings, especially around SH 161, impact parking lots. ROW acquisition is very minimal in the Las Colinas area, since it would be difficult and require displacements. No buildings are affected.
- Cost is listed at $1.3 billion and it will be ready for bids in 2028. However, with the huge backlog of multi-billion-dollar jobs in DFW, I will expect it to proceed after 2028.
Overall, the schematic looks good. While the project was downsized from original plans, the main casualty was the managed lanes (reduced from 4 to 2), and the loss of two main lanes on the short section in the Las Colinas area. Plenty of auxiliary lanes are included, and of course it is good to see the 4 connection ramps at SH 161, with future plans for the remaining connectors.
That narrow section thru Las Colinas is going to be a bottleneck.
IMHO single managed lanes just completely suck. You'll pay a premium to drive in that lane only to run a strong chance of getting stuck behind some slow poke you can't pass -thanks to only one lane.
That 3x3 section in Las Colinas would be better with the 1x1 managed lanes ditched so the whole thing could be 4x4 (or even 5x5 if the 1x1 managed lanes have their own inner/outer shoulders and hard barriers).
NCTCOG has posted some information about the upcoming Mobility 2050 document. Link (https://www.nctcog.org/getmedia/be6a7e04-e662-4e93-b349-979f4b1fe687/agendapacketrtc02132025.pdf?ext=.pdf).
It looks like the SH 114 project in Irving is being removed from the plan. See pages 258-260 in the linked document above.
This is a surprise to me, since TxDOT had a public meeting (https://www.txdot.gov/projects/hearings-meetings/dallas/2024/sh114-from-international-parkway-to-riverside-drive-062024.html) about the project in June 2024 and appeared to be moving the project through the environmental process.
There's minimal detail in the presentation. My guess is that financial constraints forced the removal of this project and others.
The amount of planned freeway work shown on page 258 is still huge. But inflation is forcing lower ambition, see page 255 which shows an average 6.1% construction cost inflation rate over the last 27 years. For example, just the US 380 project in Collin County has been mentioned to cost $8 billion.
The long-term planning horizon is now at 2050. Yikes, that's around the time that many of us older folks may or may not reach!