Downtown Traffic News
Dallas motorists headed north on I-35E will see a new ride — whee
It promises to be another fun weekend driving through downtown Dallas, with a major change in traffic set to go down on the night of March 24. The action centers on northbound I-35E, just south of downtown Dallas, with the dedication of new northbound main lanes.
The change will separate motorists who are stopping at various points in downtown Dallas from the travelers who are headed to further northern points of I-35E.
Previously, if you were coming into downtown, you had three lanes that could be used either for in-town stops or for trucking through to the great northern beyond. Now those two groups of drivers will be split.
The Decision Point, where you must snap into action and get yourself in the correct lane is Colorado Boulevard.
If you're taking I-35E north for cities such as Denton, you must remain in the left lanes at Colorado Boulevard. No more dilly-dallying over in the right lanes. Lunge left.
The right lanes will be for drivers who are headed in non-I-35 directions. Those could include eastbound on I-30, towards Mesquite; downtown Dallas; and the exit to Riverfront Boulevard. Lunge right!
All traffic going downtown should take Exit 427A, whether you're headed for Riverfront Boulevard, Griffin Street, the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, or downtown Dallas.
New signage will be installed to alert drivers to these new changes. The new traffic alignment is scheduled to be in place by the morning of Saturday, March 25, weather permitting. If it rains on Friday night, the big shift will be moved to Saturday night. But it will happen this weekend for sure, to get things on track for the Monday morning commute.
As always, there is a YouTube video to show the details. It currently has 547 views. C'mon, give that video the clicks it deserves!
This is the latest deployment in the Dallas Horseshoe Project, the $798 million U-shaped roadway construction project by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to improve traffic flow through downtown Dallas. Construction improvements include the expansion, repaving, and addition of several new bridges and roadways along interstates 30 and 35E, and the construction of a new signature bridge, the Margaret McDermott Bridge, over I-30. The project started in April 2013 and is scheduled for completion this summer.
