Honkin' Mad

New W. 7th St. bridge will change the Fort Worth skyline

@gdickson

The new West Seventh Street bridge is being assembled in a dirt field near the Clear Fork Trinity River. When the giant arches are ready for transport, they'll be moved to the river by special, crawling vehicles.

Arlington police not immune from texting & driving dangers

Arlington police have been involved in 18 crashes the past three years while officers were using mobile computers mounted in their cars, an NBC5 story concludes.

Photo: hooverpd.com

New Texas road with 85 mph speed limit opening Wed., Oct. 24

Get ready to rev those cars and trucks to 85 mph. Check out this video of Seguin, Texas Mayor Betty Ann Matthies announcing that the new Segments 5 and 6 of State Highway 130 from Austin to Seguin will open Wednesday, Oct. 24 - and motorists will be allowed to use the road for free until Nov. 10.

Five years after I-35W collapse, bridges still crumbling

Tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse that killed 13 people and injured 145 in Minnesota. With that in mind, I thought I'd repost a story I did back in January revealing poor conditions on 29 Fort Worth area bridges. Despite all the attention drawn to the nation's crumbling infrastructure after the Aug. 1, 2007 tragedy up north, many bridges that are in even worse shape than the I-35W crossing are still being neglected. Here's that story. If you have time, please also click on the link to the video I shot of an actual bridge inspection in Fort Worth.

@gdickson

Video to be posted of Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Transportation Council meetings

@gdickson

Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year on transportation projects in Dallas-Fort Worth, and for many reasons it's difficult for the typical working stiff to keep track of the decision-making. For one thing, the Regional Transportation Council holds its meetings during business hours, which means much of the public can't attend. Anyway, things are about to get a little easier, thanks to a technology that many cities and counties discovered long ago. The RTC, which is an arm of the North Central Texas Council of Governments, will begin video taping its monthly proceedings in Arlington. To watch video of the meetings, go here. It won't be a live streaming video feed, but officials say the video should be posted within 24 hours. The recordings will begin with the RTC meeting this Thursday, although presumably it will be late Thursday or perhaps Friday before the video is posted.

Main Street Daze! Big freeway shift in Grapevine Southlake this weekend - Texas 114 diverting to new pavement, near DFW Airport north end

Motorists traveling through Grapevine and Southlake should expect the unexpected this weekend, especially if their journey includes a jaunt on Texas 114 north of Dallas Fort Worth Airport.

The main lanes of Texas 114 will be shifted onto new pavement between Southlake's Farm Road 1709 and Grapevine's Main Street, officials said. The work begins at 8 p.m. Friday and could last until 6 a.m. Monday, although contractors are hopeful they can get the shift completed by Saturday night.

To make room for the hefty switch, the main lanes will be shut down between FM 1709 (aka Southlake Boulevard) and Texan Trail, just west of the DFW north entrance, spokeswoman Selma Stockstill said in an email. Traffic will be detoured to frontage roads.

The move is part of the $1 billion DFW Connector project, which includes the massive reconstruction and expansion of the eight-mile Texas 114/121 corridor, and the addition of toll lanes.

The main contractor, NorthGate Constructors, is working closely with the city of Grapevine to ensure visitors have access to the Main Street Days festival, Stockstill said.

@gdickson

 

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William Shatner's Priceline TV character killed off; Bus group says commercial is in bad taste

William Shatner's Priceline Negotiator character is apparently killed off in the company's latest commercial - in a fiery bus crash. And the American Bus Association is crying foul.

The association, which represents the long-distance bus industry, says the commercial that began running Monday is "in very poor taste."

"ABA believes the commercial damages the reputation of our industry and the hardworking men and women who drive buses, maintain them and do all of the work to safely carry hundreds of thousands each day," association spokesman Don Ronan said in a press release. "ABA is asking Priceline to take the spot out of circulation immediately."

In it, Shatner's character is among several people on a bus that has crashed into a bridge and is dangling over the edge. He hurries the others out the back of the bus and encourages them to use Priceline to find a hotel and "save yourselves ... some money." The bus then topples over the side of the bridge with Shatner aboard. 

The association also invited the real-life Shatner to ride in a motor coach, so he see for himself how safe the mode of travel really is. To read the bus association's full press release, click here.

@gdickson 

 

Passers-by pull biker from under burning car. Watch this vid, and restore your faith in humanity

Watch these motorists in Logan, Utah, rush to help a trapped motorcyclist ... ignoring the flames and lifting a car!

Distracted driving, high speed rail and other transportation issued vetted at transportation summit

Nice video from last month's Texas Transportation Summit.

 

Red light cameras cut crashes by 25 percent at Texas intersections

A lot of people don't like 'em, but red light cameras are preventing crashes, a Texas Transportation Institute study concludes.