ChopperChip's Blog

Okay....back from a lovely Thanksgiving holiday and it's back to the grind!  Speaking of which....

Work from the Firewheeel Town Center to I-30 is underway!   This final segment on the east side through Garland will stretch nearly 10 miles and finally bring the project to an end by the year 2011.  Here's the kicker when I read the update on the NTTA info sheet....

The now embodiment of the once envisioned project came about in.......

Anyone?  Anyone??

The 1960's!

Oh, and in case you were interested, the cost to finish this segment is a cool one BILLION dollars (you can now put your pinkie finger up to your mouth)!!

First off...my wish for you is to have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I hope over the years you have found this blog to be helpful as well as a place to vent your frustrations and offer up possible remedies in this massive driving area some call the metroplex.  Here's one thing I'm thankful for when it comes to the highways:

I can't say enough about the brave men and women that work for the courtesy patrol.  It's a job that's far from glamorous and they sure don't do it for the money!  They are unsung heroes in my book and I'm grateful for their tireless effort! 

As you drive to grandma's house or wherever you're going to celebrate the holiday, what strikes you as something you're thankful for?  It can be about the roads, folks that work the roadways, construction crews, you name it!  I can't wait to read your comments.

How would you like to go cruising on Saigon Rd?  Or how about Al-Salam Pkwy?  Brandon Todd was looking into this topic yesterday and indeed the Arlington city staff will be reviewing a proposal to see how costly the changes would be.  Here's more from Brandon:

 The idea is to sart off with a street sign "topper" and let homeowners get used to the new name, then eventually the name would change. It would need support from 80-percent of the homeowners on that street to get the name changed.  There's no information yet as to what streets would be renamed with one exception.  The name Saigon could replace Arkansas, from Center to HWY 360.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez would be a couple of other name change possibilities.  The city council may vote on it in the next month or two. 

It's been a llllloooooonnnnnnngggggg time since we've talked about the Southwest Parkway project in Fort Worth.  BTW-this is NOT to be confused with GREAT Southwest Parkway in Grand Prairie.  What we're talking about here is the first phase of a tollway project that cuts through  the west side of  Fort Worth.  A big hold-up to starting the project: Traversing Union Pacific  lines.  That problem is no more as the NTTA has been given permission to build a bridge over the railway.  Before long expect to see crews laying the ground work for the 8.7 mile project and the road is scheduled to open in 2012. 

After this part's done,  the next phase will begin.  It wil be known as the Chisolm Trail and will go 19 miles south into Johnson County to Cleburne.

I've had the occasion to travel westbound on I-30 after Good Day four times in the last couple of weeks.  Granted,  the rush hour is winding down at 9ish,  but the HOV is open at that time.  Of course I decided to count the cars in the carpool lane heading to downtown Dallas.  The count?

5, 4, 7, and 4.

For you folks that drive in from Arlington and Grand Prairie on a daily basis:  Do YOU see enough cars in that lane to make it viable?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The test (or diverson from work.  Whatever floats your boat!) keeps rolling on here on the traffic blog!  We've been talking about names and highways.  Here's another one to think about.  Hwy. 67 is also known as the Marvin D. Love freeway from I-20 to the I-35E merge, but what's the name south of I-20 to Wintergreen through Duncanville and the OTHER name 67 goes by through Cedar Hill?

The conversation is over and Dallas City hall has made a decision.  Here's a portion of the Good Day script of the story....

It's been a little over 6 weeks since the 310 overhead at the C.F. Hawn Freeway merge met an untimely demise.  In that time, the S.M. Wright merging bridge has been removed and for now the traffic flow in the area is moving along well.  With that said, please remember there's still A LOT of work to be done the next five weeks to meet the deadline of December 15th!  For the most part, work sessions are slated for off-peak hours but there will be times when work will HAVE to be done during high volume times.  Personally, I'm amazed at the fast track this repair work is on.  Wouldn't it be great if all road projects could move along this quickly?

I'm keeping it short and sweet for question #9.......

Which highway is the Purple Heart Trail???