The Horseshoe is a $798 million project to reconfigure the connection between Interstate 35, downtown Dallas and Interstate 30. Construction starts at the end of this month and will be complete in 2017. If you live in Oak Cliff, this will affect your life. Here are a few things to know.
1. If you commute via interstates 30 or 35, you will experience some slfkasjd@#$%^&^$%^#!!! traffic moments over the coming three years.
2. The new Interstate 30 and Interstate 35 bridges over the Trinity River will be built on the outsides of the current bridges, which won’t be torn down until the new ones are fully in service. Do you remember when Central Expressway was under construction? This won’t be half as ugly nor take nearly as long — just a little over three years — but it will be similar in that lanes and traffic patterns could change from day to day.
3. Major lane closures will take place sparingly, when doing so is necessary for worker safety, and only overnight or on weekends, when traffic is low.
4. The Colorado exits at I-35 will be closed for awhile next spring, but the Jefferson exits will remain open.
5. Those left-lane exits on the Mixmaster that make drivers try to change lanes at the last minute, will go away. All exits to 30 and 35 will be on the right.
6. “The Canyon,” that jacked up section of 30 between Riverfront and Fair Park, mostly is excluded from this project, except for one new lane that is being added to westbound I-30.
7. The Horseshoe will create a direct connection between 30 and 35, so when it is complete, you won’t have to exit at Riverfront to get from one to the other.
8. The whole of I-30 from Beckley to downtown will be replaced, but the on ramps will be approximately the same. The on ramps to I-35 at Colorado will be reconfigured.
9. The project area — interstates 30 and 35 to downtown — is among the 17 most congested roadways in Texas. The project will replace roadways built in the 1930s and ’50s, and when it’s done, it is expected to make highway and commuter traffic on our side of the river a breeze.
10. Since we are talking about the Mixmaster, gratuitous Beastie Boys reference:
[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XflfiylNNXY[/youtube]
