TxDOT reveals plans to expand Highway 114
IRVING (CBSNewsTexas.com) – If you're one of the tens of thousands of people who rely on Highway 114 to get where you're going, we've got good news for you.
State transportation officials have revealed preliminary plans to update and expand the busy freeway.
Vinod Khedkar knows all too well how dangerous living close to Highway 114 can be.
Part of the brick wall that separates his home from the service road is still a pile of rubble after a vehicle recently crashed into his backyard.
It's made life a lot more stressful in his new home.
That's why Khedkar and other homeowners on the southside of Irving's Stonegate neighborhood were among those most interested in attending a meeting where TxDOT unveiled plans for a bigger and better freeway that connects Dallas and a number of growing Tarrant County suburbs.
The billion dollar plus project covers eight miles without requiring the purchase of any homes or businesses along the route.
"We were able to fit the footprint of what we have in what is there, existing with minimal right-of-way acquisitions," said Highway 114 project Manager Nelson Underwood.
But residents of Stonegate say it will expand the highway even closer than it is now to their homes.
"Came to know that it's just four feet away from our backyard, which is going to increase noise pollution, dust pollution," said Irving resident Sobin Mathew. "We are with the project, the roads need to expand. But at the same time they need to consider us, too. I have a 3-year-old if the roads are just three feet away I could have an 18-wheeler into my living room."
The impacted residents believe they should get compensation or at least more protection from a road that's already proven to be too close for comfort.
"To be very frank I was literally upset when I heard they want to expand, they want to increase the traffic, because I have seen that wall falling in my backyard," said Khedkar.
TxDOT says with design plans, land acquisition, environmental studies and funding approvals it will be five years before construction can begin on the project.
