It's finally happening.
The much anticipated Midtown Express construction that started in 2015 has finally reached the end of the road. (Get it?)
A four-year, $847 million road project is nearly complete. The 28-mile project that runs along state highways (SH) 183 and 114 as well as a portion of Loop 12 will be ready for commuters this weekend. It will fix up existing lanes and bridges, creating direct connectors between 183 and Loop 12, building new bridges, and adding managed toll lanes.
They're now referring to that stretch as the Midtown Express. The main lanes of 183 have been up and running for several weeks now.
This massive 16-lane highway travels through Bedford, Euless, Fort Worth, Irving and Dallas and will hopefully bring some traffic relief for drivers.
"It's a dream to drive right now," said Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer. "You just kind of smooth right along through it. There's plenty of room and the traffic is a lot less congested than it was."
It includes the TEXpress (toll managed) Lanes, 44 rehabilitated bridges as well as 26 brand new bridges, and a new four direct-connect ramp system with a total of 1,869 beams.
The TEXpress lanes will initially open with fixed time-of-day fees. But starting in 2019, they'll move to dynamic pricing, meaning the price will changed based on how busy the highway is. TxDOT says crews still have some finishing touches to make on the project, including lane striping and landscaping. With all the recent rain, they also plan to revisit some areas of the highway to make sure the drainage system is working properly.
The project moved 2.7 million cubic yards of dirt and relocated 47 miles of utilities. Once it has been officially completed, the team will have worked more than five million hours in the field.
For more information, visit the project’s website: www.drivemidtown.com, or call the toll-free hotline 844-418-3114. The Midtown Express Project can also be found on Twitter (@DriveMidtown) and Facebook (drivemidtown).
