Anticipation Building As LBJ Express Project Sets To Open
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - It's the best kind of traffic alert for anyone who drives along the Interstate-635/ LBJ Freeway! The commuter construction headache is wrapping up three months ahead of schedule.
In three weeks, on Thursday, September 10, the entire length of the LBJ Express Project will be completely open and operating.
Drivers probably noticed that right in the middle of the project was a big opening, where one could actually look down below at construction work as it happened. The view was possible because crews actually designed the new parts of the highway as they were building it. Project mangers say that process helped shorten the project schedule by making the work more efficient.
But the LBJ Project doesn't just consist of flat roadways. There were 64 bridge structures rebuilt, more than 5700 beams placed, 564,000 linear feet of concrete barriers aligned and 678,000 tons of asphalt poured. The price tag for four main lanes, in each direction, and three managed toll lanes added up to some $2.7 billion.
Drivers endured four years of construction so the 16.5-mile project could be completed. In addition the new main lanes, crews also added new TEXpress managed toll lanes. The cost to use those toll lanes will vary, according to how congested traffic is, but the goal is to keep drivers moving at 50 mph.
The TEXpress Lanes along the LBJ Express are part of a larger North Texas network that includes SH 114 and the North Tarrant Express. TEXpress Lanes will also be utilized along I-35W, I-30 in Tarrant County, SH 183 in Dallas and Tarrant Counties and I-35E in Dallas County.
It's estimated that a quarter-million drivers use the LBJ Freeway each weekday.
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