Billion-Dollar Project Looks To Widen Highways 820, 287 And I-20
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - If your commute is becoming unbearable, there may be relief down the road if you travel in Tarrant County.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is considering widening Highways 287, 820 and Interstate-20 in a $1 Billion project called the Southeast Connector.
Officials with TxDOT say the hope is to get ahead of population growth in Southeast Tarrant County by widening the roads. As it stands, it's projected that by the year 2040 there will be more than 786,000 drivers a day using Interstate-20.
For the last four years Joseph LaPorte has called Arlington home and his commute to work has gotten longer. He says it takes him 25 minutes to travel eight miles to work. Taking the service road is actually faster than the highway.
"The more development, the worse it gets here," says LaPorte. "You got everybody from Mansfield heading this way. [Interstate] 20 East, 20 West all bottleneck right here at 820. It's getting pretty bad."
TxDOT says Highway 287 north and southbound is the most congested of the three highways.
Construction on the Southeast Connector won't start for several more years.
Next week, on July 19, the public is invited to a meeting to learn more about the Southeast Connector and give TxDOT input about how money should be spent.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m. inside the Dunbar High School cafeteria. The school is located at 5700 Ramey Avenue in Fort Worth.