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[NR1]

Title just about says it all... 24 lanes! I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so I had to witness this first hand. I vary rarely ever find myself in this area; however, 2 years ago I had to travel though the construction to get to my brother's bachelor party. My GPS had to recalculate every mile, because I was driving on roads that didn't exist in the GPS or driving on detour roads so far off the navigation path, that the GPS thought I was going a different way. The entire area is a mess of biblical proportions.

Dallas Morning News

GRAPEVINE – A $1.1 billion project to untangle highway traffic north of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is slated to wrap up by early October – a full nine months ahead of schedule.

The DFW Connector, an overhaul of State Highways 114 and 121, will double capacity on a stretch that already sees 180,000 drivers each day. The corridor will be 24 lanes across at its widest spot, including main lanes, frontage roads and tolled managed lanes.

.....

The DFW Connector will be the Texas Department of Transportation’s first highway in North Texas built as a public-private partnership, a factor that helped speed construction timelines and save money. And the project benefited from an unprecedented $260 million infusion of federal stimulus dollars.

But for those who live, work and drive around the project, the finish line is a welcome sight for more basic reasons: the end of frustrating detours and closures and the promise of free-flowing travel in what was once known as the “Grapevine Funnel.”

.....

Dry weather over the last few years is largely responsible for the early finish. But TxDOT officials had already estimated that the project would take almost four years less and cost $400 million less than a traditional project.

The reason: The DFW Connector was a public-private partnership that used a design-build method. That setup gave the contractor, NorthGate Constructors, more flexibility over its work and more opportunities to try some innovative techniques.

NorthGate, for instance, gathered the concrete from the old lanes, crushed it up and used it for the highway’s base layer. It took all the old steel rebar and recycled it for use in reinforcing the new concrete. The contractor also had a concrete batch plant on site to save trips.

“From the beginning to end, this project has led in innovation,” said Phil Wilson, TxDOT’s executive director.

Even with those efficiency measures, the DFW Connector in its current form almost didn’t happen. Facing a funding shortfall in 2009, TxDOT officials started preparing for a scaled-down $667 million version of the project.

Rather than overhauling large swaths of both State Highways 114 and 121, the project would’ve focused just on the lanes west of D/FW’s north entrance.

But then the federal government swooped in with $260 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus. Officials said the award was the largest single stimulus award for any transportation project in the country.

And TxDOT has since found some additional cash to improve Grapevine Mills Parkway, which links to the main project, as a separate effort in the coming months.

.....

But there will also be improved access to and from D/FW. Traffic will now be better segregated between 121, 114 and nearby Interstate 635. And new flyover bridges between 114 and 121 have replaced connections that required motorists to drive on surface streets in some instances.

It won’t be until early next year, though, that drivers can take a trip through the project’s tolled managed lanes, known as TEXpress Lanes. TxDOT must still install the tolling equipment on a four-mile stretch of SH 114 and test it.

TEXpress lanes allow anyone, including single-occupant vehicles, to pay a fee to ride the fast lanes; vehicles with two or more occupants will receive a discount.

DFW Connector’s TEXpress Lanes will be two lanes in each direction. Officials haven’t yet determined the exact toll rates on those lanes. But prices are expected to be on the lower end, around 16 cents per mile.

Given all the extra free capacity being added, they don’t expect a tremendous amount of traffic at first on the managed lanes. But officials know the region will only continue to grow, bringing more cars and trucks in the process.

“We used to refer to this as the funnel,” said Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley. “Now we call it the connector because hopefully we’ve removed that funnel part of it for at least a number of years into the future.”

After all that work and $1.1 BILLION, they only expect this 24-lane monster highway to get traffic under control for only a few years!?!?!

Link to the Google Maps view of the area: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Texa...xas+121,+Grapevine,+Tarrant,+Texas+76051&z=16

Google Street View

Photos I took on the Texan Trail overpass on Saturday (08/31/13):

Not far from here, TxDOT is also doing a massive overhaul of Interstate 365 and 35E Freeway in the Addison/ Farmers Branch area, which you must past though on your way to "The Connector." Its just as bad...

635 (LBJ) and 35E (Stemmons Freeway)

More of my photos:

Plus, they are constantly working on and increasing the size of PGBT (President George W Bush Tollway).

PGBT intersecting with 635 near Valley Ranch in Irving.

Is this just a DFW area past time, or do other cities experience never ending road construction like this? I really is mind blowing how much time and money we spend on these roads in Texas. If we aren't celebrating Cowboys football, then we are outside building roads. So strange... so many orange traffic barrels...

 

[Stinkles]

Which one is the light rail?

 

[Cartman86]

Awww I was hoping for 24 lanes that one could switch lanes in. At least half of that with the oncoming side being divided.

 

[Buddha Beam]

Is this just a DFW area past time, or do other cities experience never ending road construction like this?

Buddy, you have never lived in Cleveland. Or Ohio in general. The only time it stops is when the winter months become too bone chillingly cold to do any more road work.

Of all the states Iʻve had the pleasure of driving through Ohio has to be the worst. Our state nickname ought to be "The Orange Barrel State"

 

[Rentahamster]

After all that work and $1.1 BILLION, they only expect this 24-lane monster highway to get traffic under control for only a few years!?!?!

I sorta remember that about the time SimCity came out, I was doing some reading about real life traffic scenarios and what various cities, states, and countries were doing to address their problems. I recall something about someone saying that merely adding more and more capacity doesn't necessarily solve the problem. People, behaving as people do, are just going to keep on using it up without a care until it gets clogged again.

Solutions that involved having people pay some kind of cost to use popular routes during congested times appeared to be a more consistent answer.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Those photos look closer to 14 lanes than 24...

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Just looking at the Dallas highways makes it look like an unnavigable mess. Now you have this on top of that?

 

[Currygan]

one of the things I find most fascinating about the US. Lanes.
Lanes everywhere

 

[ASTROID2]

Needs moar lanes.

 

[saltinekracka]

We need this in Austin, stat.

 

[Murder. She Wrote]

Why doesn't LA have this? Oh who am I kidding it would still be a parking lot.

 

[crozier]

Considering how fast Texas is growing, I'd be surprised if that highway expansion lasts a decade.

 

[LegendofJoe]

Dallas is too damn spread out already, big ass highways aren't the solution. They need to be focused on selling citizens on the idea of urban living. A city as spread out as Dallas is just ends up sucking the fun out of living there.

 

[Gallbaro]

Well in nyc that $$$ amount would get you half a mile of subway.

Dallas is too damn spread out already, big ass highways aren't the solution. They need to be focused on selling citizens on the idea of urban living. A city as spread out as Dallas is just ends up sucking the fun out of living there.

Ever been there? The city is hopeless.

 

[dmag1223]

Buddy, you have never lived in Cleveland. Or Ohio in general. The only time it stops is when the winter months become too bone chillingly cold to do any more road work.

Of all the states Iʻve had the pleasure of driving through Ohio has to be the worst. Our state nickname ought to be "The Orange Barrel State"

Lol so true. I can't remember I-75 not having construction, and I've lived here 23 years.

 

[The Internet]

Title just about says it all... 24 lanes! I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so I had to witness this first hand. I vary rarely ever find myself in this area; however, 2 years ago I had to travel though the construction to get to my brother's bachelor party. My GPS had to recalculate every mile, because I was driving on roads that didn't exist in the GPS or driving on detour roads so far off the navigation path, that the GPS thought I was going a different way. The entire area is a mess of biblical proportions.

This is exactly what happened to me. I'm from Calgary, Canada and I borrowed my brother's GPS because I thought it would come in handy getting from the Dallas airport to Ft. Worth. The GPS did exactly what yours was doing, recalculating every few seconds and I had to end up pulling over and getting a physical paper map.

 

[Enron]

Which one is the light rail?

Dallas already has light rail. DART.

Dallas is too damn spread out already, big ass highways aren't the solution. They need to be focused on selling citizens on the idea of urban living. A city as spread out as Dallas is just ends up sucking the fun out of living there.

lol, urban living. Sure, if you've got an assload of money.

 

[DERF]

It is only 24 lanes at its most widest point so to say it is 24 lanes for the entire project is not correct. I do wish they had planned some for possible use with the TRE, but grapevine is supposed to plug into the TRE for light rail in 2016 which I cannot wait for.

I travel this almost every day it has helped tremendously.

 

[NR1]

Those photos look closer to 14 lanes than 24...

Well, from what I can tell, there are 7 working main lanes currently open going each way (14 total). There are also 2 service roads going each way further off the main lanes (4 total). This bring us to 18 lanes... now, that giant concrete divider between Eastbound and Westbound traffic is still being worked on which looks to be 2 or 3 lanes each way which are likely those toll roads talked about in the article (22 to 24 lanes). If its only 2 toll lanes each way, then you have to count the exit and entrance ramp lanes on each side to get to the total 24 lanes.

 

[LegendofJoe]

Ever been there? The city is hopeless.

My wife's family lives there, so quite a bit. I like it ok as long as we stay put, once we get into a car though I freaking hate it.

 

[TurtleSnatcher]

The high five in Dallas is ridiculous.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Five_Interchange

Also fun fact... DART is the largest light rail system in the US. What!?!

 

[Surface of Me]

Fuckin hate all this shit livin in DFW.

 

[Sub_Level]

Dallas is too damn spread out already, big ass highways aren't the solution. They need to be focused on selling citizens on the idea of urban living. A city as spread out as Dallas is just ends up sucking the fun out of living there.

Are there any cities in Texas where you can comfortably live a dense urban area?

 

[Wag]

Still not as good as Boston's 24.3B Big Dig. You're payin' for it folks!

 

[NR1]

The high five in Dallas is ridiculous.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Five_Interchange

Also fun fact... DART is the largest light rail system in the US. What!?!

High Five is crazy indeed (also along I-365 LBJ).

DART is the largest in the nation!?!? Who uses it?! Hell, Arlington just last month got its first public bus line.

Biggest American Town Without Public Transportation Finally Catches the Bus

Its funny, I went to college at UTA (UT Arlington) and I took an Urban History class there back around 2009. My professor had told us at the time that Arlington, TX was the largest urban city in the nation to not have a public transportation system. He would tell us about city council meetings where members would flat refuse the idea of allowing DART to enter the city for fear of attracting poor people... DID THESE PEOPLE EVEN LIVE IN ARLINGTON?!??! BECAUSE I HATE TO BREAK IT TO YOU, BUT THE POOR WERE ALREADY THERE!!

As a matter of fact, the entire urban history of the DFW area is very interesting.

 

[dbztrk]

I find highways to be aesthetically unappealing. A 24 lanes highway would send me into sensory overload.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Lol so true. I can't remember I-75 not having construction, and I've lived here 23 years.

Well, let's be fair, here: it gets a shit ton of traffic., as it's one of the major highways in the US. They're always going to be doing work on it. And, everybody drives like 90mph on average on it, lol. Ain't been pulled over yet!

 

[Karak]

'MERICA

 

[ericexpo]

I don't know where I saw it but in ether Germany or Sweden they tried cutting traffic but they did a experiment first by taking away half the lines on a busy highway. Traffic was really bad for a week but then it just started to even out. After a few months they reopened all the lanes and all the cars returned and traffic returned to what it was before gridlock. They asked everyone what happened and how did they get to work with the less lanes, no one knew.
With 2 lanes or 200 you'll still have traffic

 

[ZeroCypher]

Just drive through this earlier tonight. Definitely a lot of lanes but only for a short distance. The lanes eventually split or exit back to normal highway standards. 635 definitely needs an overhaul. Traffic on there is terrible. Last time I remember this long of construction is on I-10 in Houston. Felt like never ending construction but was great once it finished.

 

[Pollux]

Lol so true. I can't remember I-75 not having construction, and I've lived here 23 years.

Same.

 

[akira28]

they don't know how to raise more capital except for outward and upward growth, with the higher populations and the increased traffic gridlock. So a lot of cities are building super-large highway structures. This might be the largest, maybe, not sure. But there are plenty of 18 laners everywhere, and probably some even higher.

 

[Treechopper]

NR1 it's 635 not 365. And yes, that intersection of 635 and 35E is bad since I have to take it quite often. 114/121 is waaaayyy worse though. I can't count how many times I went through there and got on the wrong road. Traffic signs were spotty at best, paint was sometimes on the road and concrete barriers were everywhere. Fortunately they've finished a good chunk of it so it's not as bad anymore.

Ever been there? The city is hopeless.

Eeehhhh....yeah, you're right.

Are there any cities in Texas where you can comfortably live a dense urban area?

You see all that flat land in his pictures? That's the whole state minus East Texas. The major cities just spread out because we have so much land.

 

[The_Inquisitor]

I drive the 635 route every day. Amazing how much they have gotten done so far. They are at least 2 years from being complete.

 

[jamesinclair]

But then the federal government swooped in with $260 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus. Officials said the award was the largest single stimulus award for any transportation project in the country.

Thanks Obama! What a wonderful use of funds. what's this project length, is it even more than a mile?

After all that work and $1.1 BILLION, they only expect this 24-lane monster highway to get traffic under control for only a few years!?!?!
.

Induced demand.

I don't know where I saw it but in ether Germany or Sweden they tried cutting traffic but they did a experiment first by taking away half the lines on a busy highway. Traffic was really bad for a week but then it just started to even out. After a few months they reopened all the lanes and all the cars returned and traffic returned to what it was before gridlock. They asked everyone what happened and how did they get to work with the less lanes, no one knew.
With 2 lanes or 200 you'll still have traffic

Induced demand.

Buddy, you have never lived in Cleveland. Or Ohio in general.

Interesting you mention this. I saw an article the other day about how highways turns Cleveland from a thriving city to a modern wasteland.

From this

To this

I assume theres no more traffic, as they appear to have cleared up the problem: Something worth driving to.

 

[Piecake]

Good god at all of those overpasses. That just looks hideous

 

[Octavion Rex]

Everything is bigger in Texas

 

[Vilam]

That's the sexiest thing I've ever seen - lets do that to the 101 in the Bay Area please. Stack that fucker.

 

[OpinionatedCyborg]

welcome to hell

 

[Branduil]

They're doing some crazy expansion on the 121/183 stretch too.

Interesting you mention this. I saw an article the other day about how highways turns Cleveland from a thriving city to a modern wasteland.

From this

To this

I assume theres no more traffic, as they appear to have cleared up the problem: Something worth driving to.

I would definitely be interested in how they turned Cleveland into Cincinnati.

 

[jongkookie]

North Texan right here, urgh... screw all this construction going on down here. It's cool that it looks like they're trying to improve the roads down here, but it's more trouble than it is.

That section of 114 and 121 is the least of the everyone's worries, it's that hellhole called 635 that strikes fear in every North Texan's heart. I dread having to up to North Dallas since my car's stick.

Sidenote: there are other GAF'ers going to UTA besides me? Last time I saw somebody browse GAF on campus was a group of nerds/gamers at the bowling/billiards in the UC a couple of years ago lol.

 

[TUSR]

A $1.1 billion project to untangle highway traffic north of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

?

 

[jamesinclair]

They're doing some crazy expansion on the 121/183 stretch too.

I would definitely be interested in how they turned Cleveland into Cincinnati.

Ohio has more than one city?

Mind blown.

stuckinohio.jpeg

 

[Kamaji]

This is what I picture hell would look like.

#teamscandinavia

 

[TurtleSnatcher]

Good god at all of those overpasses. That just looks hideous

There's at least 15-20 of those in DFW.

Some are huge like the high five. They are incredibly efficient so I love them.

Dallas Mix Master is one of the worse.

But yeah they are everyone...

121/114
635/35
114/George Bush TP
Tollway/George Bush
121/Tollway
George Bush/183
635/75 (High five)
75/George Bush
35/121
35/George Bush
35/Woodall Rogers/45 (Mix Master)


It's nuts. That is just a few. All of them are huge over passes

 

[hipbabboom]

Can this be considered a spaghetti junction?

 

[TAJ]

Why doesn't LA have this?

Because there's no room to add lanes, and buying up the land to do it would make the Big Dig look cheap.
Meanwhile, the 15 through San Diego County fluctuates between 16 and 20 lanes.

 

[WARCOCK]

Because there's no room to add lanes, and buying up the land to do it would make the Big Dig look cheap.
Meanwhile, the 15 through San Diego County fluctuates between 16 and 20 lanes.

Yes but then why doesn't LA have a fucking subway system, it would make the city(metro area) so so so much more livable and great. Fucking density.

 

[thespot84]

Yes but then why doesn't LA have a fucking subway system, it would make the city(metro area) so so so much more livable and great. Fucking density.

huh? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Rail_(Los_Angeles_County)

 

[WARCOCK]

huh? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Rail_(Los_Angeles_County)

Metro rail is mostly above ground piece of shit with a really limited route. I mean it's better than nothing for sure, i have a few relatives that work downtown that use it but it's hardly comparable to nyc/tokyo/seoul/london/paris(hell even montreal and to ) etc... systems.