DFW Projects Thread

[Chris]

Aerial photos of the DFW Connector.

[MaxConcrete]

Dang, I wish I could get one or two of those photos for DFW Freeways ebook (www.DFWFreeways.com). But Northgate constructors has a super-strict policy of not releasing any images to the public for licensing. It is very difficult to get aerial photos of that area since it is immediately in the flight path of two busy runways. They must have made arrangements with DFW flight control.

The good news is that I was able to get a photo of the dedication ceremony and I have a good ground-level photo, and they will be included in the next update of the eBook which should be ready within a couple months.

[Road Hog]

Those photos must've been taken on a Sunday, judging by how light the traffic is. With the additional lanes it's no longer bumper-to-bumper constantly, but traffic is a lot heavier than shown on normal weekdays.

[longhorn]

Is the DFW connector officially done?

[Brian556]

They have started work on the FM 2499 portion of the DFW Connector:


I-635 looking west at Welch Rd:

[bassoon1986]

They have started work on the FM 2499 portion of the DFW Connector:

Is that the ramp coming from NB 121 onto FM 2499? What are they adding there?

[Brian556]

They have started work on the FM 2499 portion of the DFW Connector:





Is that the ramp coming from NB 121 onto FM 2499? What are they adding there?

Yes, that's taken on the ramp from SH 121 NB to FM 2499 NB. They are making FM 2499 a freeway from SH 121 to just north of Grapevine Mills Mall. They will also be adding a lane from the end of the future controlled access segment up to Gerault Rd, which will fix the merging problem there.

[txstateends]

NTTA agrees to be part of the TX 360 toll extension through Arlington and Mansfield

http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/02/19/5584026/tollway-authority-approves-its.html

This will only be a start ("start"=$300 million loan from TxDOT ....funny how they just got through saying they can only come up with $$ for 'maintenance'??  Yeah, right).  For the full eventual effect, including a desperately-needed interchange at US 287 (the current intersection has been the site of several wrecks, some ending in fatalities), would cost $625 million.  Plans are to start on this by next year and wrap up in 2018.

[Road Hog]

Increasingly irregular Preston Road update:



MSSEI have dragged their feet long enough on the southern part of the overall construction zone (and have made such rapid progress on the north part) that they now apparently aim to pour concrete in one go on the whole distance from the US 380 junction to Celina High School, a distance of 11 miles. (Probably their target all along.)

They have already started doing the pour on the southern end (after having the rebar laid and rusting since last November).

[wxfree]

The Dallas Morning News reports that the Chisholm Trail Parkway will open "throughout the day" May 11, and be completely open in time for the May 12 commute.  Some of the ramps are not yet constructed, but the main lanes will reportedly be open.  The story includes a quote from Michael Rey that seems to affirm the report.  The NTTA web site doesn't say anything about it, and their Facebook page specifically said that no date had been set as of March 28.  I haven't seen reports anywhere else, and Google and Bing can't seem to find any.

http://transportationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/04/chisholm-trail-parkway-celburne-fort-worth-connector-to-open-may-11.html/

[Brian556]

One thing I really like about this pic is that you can see the original abandoned SH 114 splitting off to the right. Just think...that little road was once sufficient to handle the traffic in this area.

The old road was two lanes...I counted 21 lanes total on the new road.

[wxfree]

NTTA is now confirming May 11 as the opening day for CTP, or at least the officially "anticipated" opening day.

https://www.ntta.org/roadsprojects/projprog/ChisholmTrail/Pages/CTP-Opening.aspx

[SquonkHunter]

One thing I really like about this pic is that you can see the original abandoned SH 114 splitting off to the right. Just think...that little road was once sufficient to handle the traffic in this area.

The old road was two lanes...I counted 21 lanes total on the new road.

I remember well back when TX 114 was two lanes all the way from Dallas out northwest past Grapevine. Used to go camping quite often at Grapevine Lake back in the 60s. Hard to believe just how much the DFW area has grown since I was a kid there in the 60s. Amazing.

[MaxConcrete]

Work on the expansion of SH 121 north of the DFW Connector is finally underway and making progress. Based on schematics I've seen online, I believe it will be expanded from its current four main lanes to ten main lanes. I don't think there are any toll or HOV lanes.

The corridor width, which appears to be around 300 feet, is being widened around 100 to 150 feet to accommodate the expansion. These photos show work on the new right-of-way on the east side of the freeway. The new northbound frontage road will be in this strip.


This looks northbound (compass direction northeast) along the northbound feeder at Sandy Lake Road. Additional right-of-way is being acquired on the west side of the freeway.


This view looks northbound between Sandy Lake Road and Freeport Parkway with the existing northbound frontage road and freeway visible on the left.


This view looks northbound approaching Freeport Parkway

[Brian556]

What the.... I honestly had no idea this was going to take place. This section was only upgraded to freeway in 2008 (if I remember correctly).
It is incredibly strange that they didn't move the northbound frontage road to it's final location during the last project and just leave space for expansion
in the middle.

Very, very strange.

[Chris]

Here are a couple of screenshots I grabbed from the latest LBJ Express project update video.







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLWtDUiGYTk

[Road Hog]

What the.... I honestly had no idea this was going to take place. This section was only upgraded to freeway in 2008 (if I remember correctly).
It is incredibly strange that they didn't move the northbound frontage road to it's final location during the last project and just leave space for expansion
in the middle.

Very, very strange.

Those two traffic lights at Sandy Lake were a real bear. Putting the interchange there was long overdue. Sounds like TxDOT misjudged the rate of growth in that  area.

[Brian556]

Those two traffic lights at Sandy Lake were a real bear. Putting the interchange there was long overdue. Sounds like TxDOT misjudged the rate of growth in that  area.

Yeah they really were. Back then, I always wished they would close off the cross streets and remove the signals in order to keep traffic moving on SH 121, which is way more important than the cross street traffic.

[longhorn]

Whats the completion date for the LBJ project?

[Chris]

The Chisholm Trail Parkway opens to traffic tomorrow. It's the first new toll road in Fort Worth since the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/05/09/chisholm-trail-parkway-opening-for-traffic/

[wxfree]

The Chisholm Trail Parkway opens to traffic tomorrow. It's the first new toll road in Fort Worth since the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/05/09/chisholm-trail-parkway-opening-for-traffic/

I went to the ceremony Friday at the county line.  I'd never made it to one before, and it was mostly boring.  There was a bit of interesting historical insight from some of the older speakers, so overall it was worth going to.

Driving by the area tonight, I went a bit out of my way tonight to see the south end.  The "CTP" signs are up on US 67, or at least one is, at the southbound exit.

On a related note, the work zone signs are now up for the work on US 67 from Cleburne to Keene, upgrading it to a freeway and finally finishing the bypass.

Edit:  I plan to drive the whole thing tomorrow.  I didn't really plan to take photos anyway, but even if I did my camera's auto-focus feature has become an auto-blur feature (I think I left it in the car too many hot days), so I'll have no photos.

[txstateends]

I-35W - North Freeway work beginning in Fort Worth

Afternoon rush hour, looking south at the NB lanes


Same timeframe, looking north on I-35W.  The interchange for I-820 is in the distance.


http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/05/01/5785536/orange-barrel-overdose-massive.html

Construction starts in 30 days, and will last till 2018.

[txstateends]

Homeowners near I-635 project say their homes are being affected by the nearby construction...

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/carrollton-farmers-branch/headlines/20140510-lbj-express-work-taking-toll-dallas-and-farmers-branch-homeowners-say.ece

[Chris]

Is the Chisholm Trail Parkway considered part of State Highway 121? I believe it was planned as such, but it doesn't have continous frontage roads.

[MaxConcrete]

I went to the ceremony Friday at the county line.  I'd never made it to one before, and it was mostly boring.  There was a bit of interesting historical insight from some of the older speakers, so overall it was worth going to.

The main opening event for the CTP in Fort Worth was huge and definitely not boring. There were thousands of people there - at least 2000 in the 5K, another 2000 on bicycles and probably another couple thousand people for the kids events and accompanying participants. Large field areas were set aside for parking, and the main area fill up and overflowed to another pasture.

I took a large number of photos and will post some later today. This was the largest-ever freeway opening in Fort Worth. I'm going to update the DFW Freeways ebook http://www.dfwfreeways.com/