Honkin' Mad

Buses for tailgaters: Shuttles to Alabama-Michigan game leaving 4 hours before kickoff

@gdickson

Fans who want to tailgate before the Alabama-Michigan game Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington can catch a shuttle bus from Fort Worth and avoid the hassle of traffic and parking.

The Fort Worth Transportation Authority - aka the T - will operate the shuttles beginning four hours before kickoff.

The T has run "Cowboy Coach" shuttles to Cowboys Stadium since the mega-dome opened in 2009, and in the past has left downtown Fort Worth two hours before kickoff. But the vehicles weren't as popular at gollege games as pro games because the college fans wanted to arrive early enough to get in lots of tailgating. So from now on, for college games, the buses will leave four hours before kickoff.

To ride, go to the Trinity Railway Express T&P Station Park & Ride lot on the south end of downtown Fort Worth. Enter from 200 W. Vickery Blvd.

Cost is $10 cash per person round-trip, plus $5 per car for parking.

“The change to earlier departures for college games was made because of feedback from riders and the public that they want to arrive at the stadium in time to participate in college tailgate activities,” said T president Dick Ruddell. 

For those staying in downtown hotels, catch a free ride to T&P using the Molly the Trolley circulator service.

More: 817-215-8600 or the-t.com

Scheduled College Games:

Sat, Sept. 1 - Michigan vs. Alabama - 7:00 PM

Sat, Nov. 24 - Texas Tech vs. Baylor - TBA
Fri, Jan. 4 - Cotton Bowl Classic - TBA

*Scheduled Cowboys Regular Season Home Games: 

Sun, Sep. 23 - TAMPA BAY @ Cowboys Stadium - NOON 
Mon, Oct. 1 - CHICAGO @ Cowboys Stadium  - 7:30 PM
Sun, Oct. 28 - NY GIANTS @ Cowboys Stadium - 3:15 PM 
Sun, Nov. 18 - CLEVELAND @ Cowboys Stadium - NOON
Thu, Nov. 22 - WASHINGTON @ Cowboys Stadium - 3:15 PM
Sun, Dec. 2 - PHILADELPHIA @ Cowboys Stadium - 7:20 PM 
Sun, Dec. 16 - PITTSBURGH @ Cowboys Stadium - 3:15 PM
Sun, Dec. 23 - NEW ORLEANS @ Cowboys Stadium - NOON

 The T also will serve Dallas Cowboys 2012 season playoff games.

 *Kickoff times of games in latter part of season are subject to change.

Is DFW Connector a dirty enough job to lure Mike Rowe to Grapevine?

The folks at the $1 billion DFW Connector project in Grapevine have been digging in the dirt for more than two years now, and to celebrate their progress they're trying to lure Mike Rowe from television's Dirty Jobs show to the project site. For those who want to vote for the DFW Connector project and get Discovery's Mike Rowe to come to town, here are some instructions provided by NorthGate Constructors:

1.       Go to this link.

2.       Click on the “Sign up to participate” link in the top right-hand corner.

3.       Enter your e-mail address, and create a password.

4.       Choose “Yes” for the question “Do you own Caterpillar equipment?”

5.       Uncheck the box that says “I would like to receive future communications from Caterpillar.”

6.       Hit the Enter button on your keyboard (clicking on the “Submit” button doesn’t work in Internet Explorer!) and close the window.

7.       Refresh the page or navigate back to the same previous link.

8.       Click on the VOTE button on the right hand side.

9.      Log in and vote once a day until Friday, June 15.

@gdickson

 

 

Traffic jams a good thing at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

Texas Rangers players, who are playing in front of massive crowds this year, don't mind getting stuck in a little traffic after work.

Photo: dfw.cbslocal.com

 

National Train Day in Fort Worth - Kids can meet real-life railroad operators, check out vintage equipment, model railroads

Saturday is National Train Day, and people looking for some fun, free stuff to do may want to wander over to downtown Fort Worth.

The event will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Intermodal Transportation Center, 1001 Jones St. in downtown Fort Worth.

Highlights include: an up-close look at freight and passenger equipment, including some "heritage train equipment" that's pretty old; drawings for free Amtrak train travel; a chance to talk with railroad operators; model railroad displayers, balloon artists, face-painters and music.

A similar event is taking place simultaneously in downtown Dallas.

“It’s a great opportunity to get up close to track-side operating freight locomotives, passenger cars and heritage trains, and watch some operating trains in action,” said Peter LeCody of Texas Rail Advocates.

@gdickson

Texas Rangers Opening Day traffic is a bear, but once you're here, it's like paradise

I'm at Opening Day for the Texas Rangers. Traffic was incredibly bad this morning. I left far north Fort Worth at 10 a.m. and immediately encountered a freeway shut down at Northeast Loop 820 and Texas 183. So I turned around and took I-35W to downtown Fort Worth and then I-30 to Arlington. It took more than an hour and, by the time I arrived at parking, the closest spot I could find was at the North Central Texas Council of Governments on Six Flags Drive.

But enough complaining. It's freaking Opening Day ... and man, it's a beautiful Opening Day. The sun is shining. It's about 75 degrees outside (give or take) and people are tailgating like crazy. Here are some snapshots I took on my lo-o-o-ng walk to the ballpark.

@gdickson

Tres Pennington, 9, of Justin, throws a Whiffle Ball pitch to a friend while his family tailgates at an office lawn at the corner of Road to Six Flags and Magic Mile.

 Friends Ryan Clay, Clint Schneider, Patrick Rose IV and Martin Garcia drink some cold beer in the North Central Texas Council of Governments parking lot on Six Flags Drive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fans pose for snapshots outside the home plate entrance to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, where the club has installed a statue titled "Rangers Fans," paying tribute to Shannon Stone of Brownwood, who died last season when he fell out of the outfield stands trying to catch a ball while attending the game with his young son, Cooper.

Gamblers take note: Amtrak exploring Fort Worth-to-Shreveport passenger rail service. East Texas supporters going all in on proposal ...

Gamblers and other North Texans who want to visit northern Louisiana could soon be rolling down the railroad tracks.

Amtrak and the Texas Department of Transportation have agreed to conduct a feasibility study for future Amtrak service that could one day connect Fort Worth to Shreveport/Bossier City - a popular destination for Texans who enjoying visiting the casinos.

The proposed route would roughly follow the Interstate 20 corridor, with trains traveling up to 79 mph, mostly along tracks owned by Union Pacific Railroad. Between Fort Worth and Marshall, the train would follow the existing Amtrak Texas Eagle route - although the Texas Department of Transportation has asked that the study also evaluate the pros and cons of tweaking that route as well.

The transportation department would like to explore moving the Texas Eagle, which currently uses Union Pacific's tracks through Arlington, onto the Trinity Railway Express tracks in Northeast Tarrant County. Under that proposal, Amtrak would stop at Dallas and Fort Worth, as well as Centreport/DFW Airport.

TxDOT has received $265,000 in federal funds for the study through the East Texas Corridor Coalition, an organization pushing for economic development in east Texas, northwestern Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, attended an event announcing the study Thursday in Marshall.

The study is the result of four years of effort, said Richard Anderson, who chairs the council and is a former state senator.

"The study should produce a review of increasing the efficiency of passenger rail in our Ark-La-Tex region by complementing existing rail service and determining projected costs for this project. The results of this study will then take us to the next level," Anderson said in a statement.

Amtrak passengers can already buy a ticket for travel between Fort Worth and Shreveport, but the train only takes them as far east as Longview. From there, a thruway bus connection is needed. That connection adds time to the route, and makes it less desirable for leisure travelers.

@gdickson

Drivers thrown for a curve with North Tarrant Express, DFW Connector

Motorists say they're confused by constantly shifting lanes and such.

Super Bowl Highway signs to be auctioned off; Sports memorabilia from Interstate 30 'Tom Landry Highway'

ARLINGTON – Call it a sign – actually, 12 signs – that there’s still money to make from Super Bowl XLV. The big game is now a little more than a year in North Texas’ rear-view mirror, and signs proclaiming Interstate 30 as “Super Bowl Hwy” have been removed from the roadsides. But regional transportation planners see no need for those green highway placards, which are owned by the North Central Texas Council of Governments, to gather dust. So instead, members of that organization’s offshoot, the Regional Transportation Council, are taking steps to auction off 12 of the signs.

The giant metal banners come in two sizes – one about two feet tall and 14 feet long, the other about 18 inches tall and 10.5 feet long. They are made to attach to the top of the permanent “Tom Landry Highway” signs that are displayed along I-30 in Fort Worth, Arlington and Dallas.

Michael Morris, council of governments transportation director, thinks they’d be a perfect item for a wall at a restaurant, sports park or perhaps even inside Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones might care to put in a bid, seeing as how his team hasn’t been able to find a road to the Super Bowl since the 1995 football season.

“They aren’t going to raise a lot of money, but they’ve been sitting here for months and they’re not doing us any good here,” Morris said during a break at the RTC’s monthly meeting Thursday in Arlington, where the signs have been leaning up against a board room wall.

For prospective bidders, there are two catches:

• Owners of strip clubs, or other businesses that aren’t considered family-rated, likely will not be considered. “Certain places, we won’t have them,” Morris said.
• Auction winners probably will have long-term but temporary custody of the signs. They’ll have to agree to give them back, if the region is selected to once again host a Super Bowl – perhaps as early as 2016. If that happens, the signs will once again need to be placed out on I-30.

Auction proceeds will go to the Super Bowl Host Committee’s Youth Education Town charity, which provides afterschool activities for boys and girls. The RTC likely will vote on the final auction rules during its next meeting March 8, and conduct the auction shortly afterward.

“I hope they bring in lots of money,” said Arlington Councilwoman Kathryn Wilemon.

@gdickson

Don't want to park at Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving game? Catch a bus in Fort Worth

Who wants to pay $30 to $75 for football game parking? Not you? Well, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority is offering an option for you. If you're planning to go to the Dallas Cowboys' Thanksgiving game against the Miami Dolphins Thursday but would like to skip the hassle of parking, a Cowboy Coach shuttle service is available near downtown Fort Worth.

For details on how to catch the buses, visit the T's website. Round trip fare is $10 per person, plus a $5 per-car parking fee to park on the south side of T&P Station.

 
Some other potentially helpful information T services during the holiday week:

• The Trinity Railway Express will not operate Thursday. Nor will the T's bus service, mobility-impaired transit service (MITS) or Molly the Trolley.
• Friday, the TRE will operate on a modified Saturday service with extra trains, The T’s bus service will follow a weekday schedule, AND there will be free bus rides after 4 p.m. to encourage people to take transit to the Parade of Lights in downtown Fort Worth.

@gdickson

Thanksgiving Day travel -- clear skies, cheaper gas and (somewhat) less road work in Texas

Motorists hitting the road for the Thanksgiving holidays can expect better weather, cheaper gas and a bit of a break from highway construction in the North Texas area. However, even though highway workers will largely be absent Wednesday through Sunday on area road projects, shoppers hitting major commercial areas such as Grapevine Mills and North East Mall must still deal with some diverted lanes, closed ramps and other obstacles.

“Some ramps are closed but there will not be major traffic lane shifts or construction during the holiday blackout dates,” said Robert Hinkle, spokesman for the North Tarrant Express, a $2.5 billion makeover of Northeast Loop 820 and Texas 121/183.

As North Texans gather to celebrate Thanksgiving, skies are expected to be clear Wednesday and Thanksgiving Day, with a pleasant weather forecast that includes highs in the upper 60s and lows in the mid 40s – perfect weather for throwing a football in the yard after turkey dinner.

However, shoppers who plan to hit the stores on Black Friday should be prepared for a possible return of wet weather. According to the National Weather Service, a 50 percent chance of showers is in the forecast.

About 3.3 million Texans will travel for the Thanksgiving holiday beginning Wednesday. That’s a whopping 11.9 percent increase compared to last year, AAA says. Nationwide, about 42.2 million people will travel, up 11.4 percent from last year – but still far below the 2005 record of 58.6 million travelers.

“It’s been very hard to get people out, because the economy has been in pretty dire shape,” said AAA Texas spokesman Dan Ronan. “As the economy has started to improve, we’re starting to see more people talking about getting out and traveling, taking trips.”

Lower gasoline prices are helping. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in Fort Worth fell seven cents during the past week to $3.13. That’s still 46 cents per gallon higher than drivers were paying during Turkey Day week last year. The statewide average is $3.17, and nationally it’s $3.35 per gallon.

Wednesday is expected to be the busiest day of the year for Amtrak, a long-distance passenger rail service with daily departures from Fort Worth to Chicago, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Sunday also is one of the rail company’s busiest days, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.

“People have decided to take off more than just Thanksgiving day or the day before. Some people are taking the week, but nearly all of those people need to be back to work or school Monday,” he said.

State troopers will patrol highways, watching for intoxicated drivers, and those who ignore the state’s law requiring motorists to slow down to 20 mph below the speed limit while passing emergency vehicles with lights flashing. The law now applies to not only police cars, fire trucks and ambulances, but also tow trucks, a Texas Department of Public Safety official said.

On the North Tarrant Express project, shoppers next week could encounter a bit more congestion than usual on the Loop 820 frontage road, from Rufe Snow Drive to Iron Horse Drive, where traffic will be reduced to one lane.

In Grapevine, motorists seeking to get to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport’s north entrance should build in extra time for delays because of the $1 billion DFW Connector project along the Texas 114/121 corridor. No lane closures are expected through 8 p.m. Monday because of the Thanksgiving holiday, said NorthGate Constructors spokeswoman Selma Stockstill.

Statewide, highway work generally grinds to a halt on projects, Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Val Lopez said. However, motorists could encounter lane closures on some long-term projects. For example, for those traveling west of Fort Worth, motorists can expect traffic to be reduced to one lane in each direction on Interstate 20 in Parker County, just west of Weatherford.

@gdickson