North Tarrant Express construction is expected to begin in August and be complete by September 2030. That work will include replacing the battered 63-year-old Sylvania Avenue bridge over Airport Freeway\/State Highway 121 and reconstructing frontage roads east of I-35W.<\/p>\n
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The Texas Department of Transportation plans to reconstruct frontage roads along Interstate 35W and Airport Freeway and replace the damaged Sylvania Road bridge. (Courtesy | North Central Texas Council of Governments)<\/p>\n
More than 165,000 vehicles travel on I-35W every day near downtown, TxDOT officials said.<\/p>\n
TxDOT will develop a traffic control plan to manage the project and minimize disruptions to travelers, officials said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to be putting in frontage roads to the east of the existing frontage roads, so in theory that should minimize the impact to current traffic up until the point they have to make the connections,\u201d said Christie Gotti, a senior program manager with the North Central Texas Council of Governments.<\/p>\n
The Regional Transportation Council, an independent policy group of 45 elected and appointed officials tied to the council of governments, recently approved spending $45 million as a local contribution for the project. Those funds will supplement about $97 million that TxDOT plans to spend for the construction.<\/p>\n
The two new bridges will improve connectivity east of downtown, Gotti said.<\/p>\n
Currently, the eastbound frontage road includes a direct ramp to Airport Freeway since the road doesn\u2019t extend beyond the river.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s going to be a connection added so that the frontage roads will continue over the Trinity River and connect where they dead end on the west side,\u201d Gotti said. \u201cThat will be a new bridge to provide a continuous connection.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sylvania Avenue bridge, which has been damaged by vehicles many times, will also be replaced.<\/p>\n
The bridge will be raised about 5 feet from its low vertical clearance of 13.5 feet to make it safer and reduce congestion, officials said.<\/p>\n
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n