Honkin' Mad

Putting a road on a 'diet?' Fort Worth officials say Forest Park Blvd. needs to shape up, but some residents disagree

@gdickson

Fort Worth City Council members today will get an update on a plan to put Forest Park Boulevard on a "road diet." What's that mean? Well, as the nickname suggests, it involves trimming the number of main lanes on the road, and making it more pedestrian and cyclist friendly. But some commuters who use Forest Park Boulevard to get to and from downtown say the plan is all sizzle and no steak.

New bridge opens up part of Edwards Ranch that was previously off limits

As the Star-Telegram's Sandra Baker reports, a new Clearfork Main Street bridge spanning the Trinity River between Hulen Street and Bryant Irvin Road opens today. It provides a well-needed east-west connection,but also opens up a previously private part of the city for development.

Texans driving way too fast in work zones, officials say

@gdickson

One particularly heart-tugging image seen in some highway work zones is an orange sign bearing the message: "Please slow down. My dad works here."

But while that sign appeals for the safety of highway workers, in reality four of every five people killed in a work zone is a motorist.

"We want the public to crank up their awareness," said Lonny Haschel, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman.

Haschel joined officials from the North Texas Tollway Authority and Texas Department of Transportation on Tuesday at a work zone site along Interstate 20. Speaking on a newly built bridge over the interstate, the group called for motorists to bear greater responsibility for their actions on the road.

"There is over $11 billion in construction in the North Texas area, with more on the way," said Brian Barth, Fort Worth deputy district engineer for the state transportation department. "Your daily commute to work and school is changing on a daily basis and we need every driver to stay alert."

Work zone fatalities have fallen 39 percent during the past decade, said Elizabeth Mow, tollway authority assistant executive director of infrastructure.

Still, last year 134 people were killed statewide in work zone crashes.

"We need the public's help to complete the picture," Mow said.

Speeding and driver inattention are the leading causes of work zone fatalities, Haschel said.

Distractions such as talking or texting on a mobile device are also a major problem, Barth said.

National Work Zone Safety Awareness week is this week. The groups chose Tuesday's site for their press conference because it is part of the Chisholm Trail Parkway project, a 28-mile toll road from downtown Fort Worth to Cleburne that is scheduled to open next year.

The Chisholm Trail Parkway project has created work zones across a swath of southwestern Tarrant County, crossing Interstate 30, I-20, Hulen Street and Texas 183 (Southwest Boulevard).

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Two extra lanes opening on Hulen Street in Fort Worth

Good news for motorists in southwest Fort Worth: Two additional lanes opened Wednesday on Hulen Street, as officials continued to make progress on the Chisholm Trail Parkway project.

There are now three northbound lanes and two southbound lanes crossing the Hulen Street bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad's Davidson Yard, said Michael Rey, spokesman for the North Texas Tollway Authority.

The entire, six-lane bridge is scheduled to open during the summer - and a new walkway will be available for pedestrians or cyclists.

The additional lanes should provide lots of extra breathing room for motorists, who have dealt with long lines and narrow lanes on the Hulen Street bridge for two years.

"There is still some fencing, and the demolition of the older bridge, but it's a lot better than it has been," Rey said, "They're still doing some final column demolition."

Also re-opening are a ramp from southbound Hulen Street to westbound Vickery Boulevard, and the eastbound right lane of Vickery Boulevard.

Chisholm Trail Parkway is a planned 28-mile toll road from Interstate 30 near downtown Fort Worth to U.s. 67 in Cleburne. It is scheduled to open in 2014. The North Texas Tollway Authority is the lead agency on the project, and the Texas Department of Transportation is a partner.

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Bridge work on both sides of downtown Fort Worth

@gdickson

With work being done on the West Seventh Street bridge and Weatherford Street bridge, motorists who frequent downtown Fort Worth may be feeling pinched from both the east and the west.

Two new bridges will make Riverside an alternate to I-35W

Fort Worth is pressing ahead with construction of two new North Riverside Drive bridges over Loop 820 and Big Fossil Creek, despite lingering objections from area residents.

I-35W work to begin this year in Fort Worth

@gdickson

The reconstruction of Interstate 35W from Interstate 30 near downtown Fort Worth to north of U.S. 81/287 in the far north part of the city will begin this year, after the Texas Transportation Commission last week approved its portion of the project.

Texas roads awash in red ink

@gdickson

Texas legislators are ready to snip the Texas Department of Transportation's credit cards. They say the agency has borrowed too much money - nearly $18 billion - because the state lacks the cash to build the projects needed to keep up with growth.

Photo: ehow.com

Hurstview bridge opens Saturday in Hurst - North Tarrant Express halfway done

- @gdickson and @fwstevans

HURST - Motorists will once again find it easier to move north and south through Hurst.

The new Hurstview Drive bridge over Texas 121/183 will open at 10 a.m. Saturday, officials with the North Tarrant Express project said.

The bridge had been closed since April, as part of the $2.5 billion freeway makeover known as North Tarrant Express.

Officials also announced Friday that the North Tarrant Express project, which began in January 2011, had reached its halfway point. The developer has promised to complete its work by the end of June 2015, according to its contract with the Texas Department of Transportation. With the announcement that the work had reached its halfway point, it would appear that construction is roughly six months ahead of schedule - but officials with the project declined to discuss specifics, other than to say they were on schedule to meet their deadline.

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North Tarrant Express is a $2.5 billion makeover of Northeast Loop 820 and Texas 121/183 in Northeast Tarrant County. The developer is NTE Mobility Partners, which is a team of companies led by the U.S. subsidiary of Spain-based Cintra.

NTE Mobility Partners spokesman Robert Hinkle announced the opening of the Hurstview Bridge and the project's 50 percent completion Friday morning during a Northeast Tarrant Transportation Summit held by Tarrant County Commissioner Gary Fickes.

Speaking to an audience of several hundred people in Hurst, Hinkle quipped that Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley had been asking him about twice a week for many months when the Hurstview Bridge would re-open.

"Judge Whitley lives on the north side of the bridge, and his church is on the south side," Hinkle said. "He's been telling me it's my fault people are not getting to God. I'm waking up in the middle of the night thinking about that."

While the opening of the Hurstview Bridge likely will be cheered by motorists trying to get from one side of Hurst to another, it may not make much of a difference for traffic passing through the city.

The eastbound frontage road between Precinct Line Road and Cavender Drive will be closed for up to three months - meaning drivers using the Hurstview Bridge won't have a direct connection to Texas 121/183.

"You can go north and south across the bridge, but you won't be able to turn east onto the frontage road," said Lara Kohl, spokeswoman for Bluebonnet Constructors, the firm overseeing construction. "This is a local access bridge only, not connected to the main lanes of the expressway, and it never was. We anticipate three months to reconstruct the frontage roads in that area."

 

New bridge connects Forest Park Blvd. to I-30 in Fort Worth - Chisholm Trail Pkwy

@gdickson

A new bridge connecting Forest Park Boulevard and Summit Avenue near downtown Fort Worth is scheduled to open Saturday, weather permitting. The bridge spans the Fort Worth & Western Railroad tracks, just south and west of the intersection of Interstate 30 and Forest Park Boulevard.

The bridge was built as part of the Chisholm Trail Parkway project, the North Texas Tollway Authority's ongoing construction of a 28-mile toll road from downtown Fort Worth to Cleburne. (The map at left is a bit fuzzy, but may give you an idea of the location of the new bridge.)

This is a bit of a confusing area of the Chisholm Trail Project because it's where the road switches from the north to south side of I-30. The bridge will serve as a feeder and frontage road for eastbound traffic trying to get onto I-30.

The old eastbound I-30 ramp from Forest Park Boulevard is closed. This new bridge will serve as the new eastbound ramp. Traffic coming from Forest Park Boulevard won't immediately be allowed onto eastbound I-30. Instead, traffic will taxi to just beyond Summit Avenue and get on the freeway there.

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