Part Of Dallas North Tollway Closes This Weekend; Expect Delays
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Part of the Dallas North Tollway is undergoing a facelift, and that means closing it for the entire weekend.
The bridge at Tennyson Parkway will be demolished to make room for a fourth lane in either direction. But it comes at the same time and in the same place as a popular race to raise money for cancer research.
CBS11 went behind the wheel with commuter Matt Brundige which, for him, almost always means a drive on the Dallas North Tollway.
"It's the life blood to everything I do, for work in general," he said.
This weekend, he was planning on the Tollway taking him to the 26th annual Komen North Texas Plano Race for the Cure. But the roadway will be closed - leaving up to 6000 race participants searching for alternate routes.
The Komen team has inundated participants with maps and email blasts to warn them about the traffic dilemma. All northbound lanes of the DNT from Spring Creek to Headquarters Drive will be affected, and all southbound lanes from Gaylord Parkway to Spring Break will be closed. Tennyson Parkway will be open to traffic. The closure begins at 11 p.m. Friday and ends at 5 a.m. Monday.
"We just roll with the punches. Whatever somebody throws at us, we're just going to make it work," said Mary Frances Hoover, Executive Director of Susan G. Komen N. Texas.
The NTTA said it is a short-term inconvenience with a long-term benefit for Tollway drivers.
"We're widening it, expanding it and adding an extra lane, and it should bring more traffic thorough there. This is the downside of it - pulling the bandaid off, if you will, this weekend," said NTTA spokesperson Michael Rey.
Matt Brundige said he hopes the sting is quick.
"Initially frustrating, but hopefully it's just for the two or three days they're talking about," he said.
A second complete closure is scheduled for the following weekend as well, from June 17-20.