Traffic News

Downtown Dallas freeway exit kindof like amusement park ride shutters

Woodall Rodgers Freeway, here we come.

Google Maps

The other shoe drops: There's a high-profile freeway ramp in downtown Dallas used by drivers headed for downtown, Uptown, and destinations north that's about to be replaced.

The exit ramp that you used to take if you were driving southbound on I-35 and going to Woodall Rodgers Freeway is being closed down. The Texas Department of Transportation is opening a new exit ramp a half mile away.

The exit ramp is being permanently relocated to Hi Line Drive, a half mile north of the current exit ramp. The opening takes place on Saturday May 29 at 5 am.

The current ramp — which curved and soared in the air sort of like an amusement park ride — will be closed when the new ramp opens. Maybe it too will be like an amusement park ride. The old one was not exactly Six Flags, but it did have a certain wheee thing going on. Maybe all airborne freeway ramps are like amusement park rides?

Motorists are advised to plan ahead and be prepared to take the new exit at Hi Line Drive to get to Woodall Rodgers Freeway.

It used to be that you were practically at Woodall Rodgers when you took the exit. Now you'll have to get on the ramp way back — before you get to American Airlines Center, right after you pass the Oak Lawn exit, practically in the Design District.

This work is part of the $79 million Lowest Stemmons project to improve traffic flow and mobility on the existing highway, which the release says is currently the eighth-most congested highway segment in Texas. The project is part of TxDOT's Texas Clear Lanes effort to relieve congestion in major metropolitan areas and includes adding and relocating ramps.

This new ramp follows the relocation of the I-35E northbound to Dallas North Tollway exit ramp which took place on Saturday, May 22.

Like last time, they have a video designed to walk you through it, although its choice of perky music, all whistles and hand-claps, is more Andy Griffith Show than the last video's electronic/ambient music selection. Maybe they wanted to make this whole freeway ramp relo seem more cheerful.

traffic transportation

E-Cigarette News

Dallas City Council places restrictions on vaping in public

Unsplash

Man vaping

Vaping will now be banned exactly like smoking, thanks to a new ordinance from the Dallas City Council.

At their December 11 meeting, the council passed an ordinance to ban vaping in all the same areas where smoking is not allowed. It'll go into effect on December 11, 2025 — giving everyone a year to get into compliance.

Proposed by City of Dallas Environmental Commission (EVC) and the Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability (OEQS), the ordinance amends the definition of “smoking” in the Dallas City Code to include the use of vaping devices.

The ordinance does not ban vaping — it only bans where you can vape: no vaping in all indoor and enclosed spaces; within 15 feet of building entrances; and on park property. The ordinance also bans marijuana smoking in those same places.

In addition, the amendment requires restaurants, hotels, fitness centers and other businesses to update their signage to clearly state that both smoking and electronic smoking devices are prohibited.

The ordinance already earned widespread support from health organizations such as the Dallas County Health and Human Services, the American Lung Association, and the American Heart Association. These organizations, along with the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Surgeon General, have all raised concerns about the health risks of direct and second-hand exposure to vaping aerosols, particularly for vulnerable populations such as children and older adults.

Dallas is not the first city to impose such a ban: San Antonio enacted a similar ban in October. Theirs goes into effect on January 1, 2025.

politics