Construction Project Underway Along LBJ Freeway
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Any drivers who plan on using Interstate-635 might want to consider leaving a little earlier than usual. A massive construction project along the LBJ Freeway is now underway, and some of those big changes could have a big impact on your commute.
Any drivers who are accustomed to using the HOV lanes should pay particular attention to these traffic warnings, because portions of those lanes – between Interstate-35E and Central Expressway – were shut down over the weekend.
The eastbound HOV lane that starts east of Luna Road and extends west of Midway Road is now closed. The westbound HOV lane that begins west of Midway Road and extends to just west of the Joe Ratcliff Pedestrian Walkway is also now closed.
According to project managers, shutting down these HOV lanes will allow travel lanes to be reconfigured as crews prepare to rebuild bridges that cross over LBJ Freeway in the coming months.
Crews are starting with Rosser Road and the Joe Ratcliff Pedestrian Walkway. More HOV lanes will be closed throughout the summer as the construction project progresses.
The entire $2 billion construction project is scheduled to take about five years. And it will certainly make a huge mess of traffic in North Texas, as crews reconstruct frontage lanes and main lanes along Interstate-635.
But when the construction is over, the new LBJ Express -- as it will be called -- will provide 13 miles of added lanes that will extend from Irving to northeast Dallas. Another four miles of additions will be built on Interstate-35E, south of Interstate-635. The new lanes will run below the current freeway in some sections.
In order to finance the project, commuters will pay to cruise some managed toll lanes that will be added on both Interstate-635 and on Interstate-35E, between Loop 12 and the LBJ Express.
