Latest on 35W Construction & Tower 55
Just thinking about driving down I-35 without traffic at Western Center makes us giddy, and updates at a recent 35W Coalition meeting tell us the $1.6B North Tarrant Express/I-35W reconstruction projectis targeted for completionby mid-2015.There are close to 2,000 people working on the project 24/7, including the center portion of Hwy 377 bridge over I-35 (shown here), where beams will be placed this month. Construction also starts this month on the first of two segments of the$244M I-35W expansion from North Loop 820 to US 81-287. (Translation: get a new map.) Construction for the $1.4B second portion is scheduled for the summer, says TxDOT project manager Scott Hall.
BNSF Railway public-private partnerships director Aaron Hegeman says the upcoming Tower 55 project received an additional $1M from the City of Fort Worth to help fund the $101M project. (BNSF and Union Pacific have committed more than $65M to the cause.) Tower 55--which has a late 2014 targeted completion--is designed to relieve freight rail congestion where five major freight and passenger rail routes converge. It'll also increase rail capacity by adding additional north and south railroad tracks through downtown Fort Worth, improve signals, replace rail bridges, and improve street intersections to enhance safety.
