ARLINGTON (1080 KRLD) - Highway 360 will close in Arlington this weekend as part of the $233 million project to modernize the interchange at Interstate 30. Highway 360 will be closed in both directions between Brown Boulevard and Six Flags Drive.
The closure begins at 8 p.m. Friday and will end by 5 a.m. Monday. TxDOT will use the time for bridge construction over the main lanes.
TxDOT started construction in 2016. The interchange was first built when I-30 was a toll road, so drivers had to pass through toll booths to get onto 360.
"We're essentially modernizing a turnpike configuration designed in the late 50s to be a more modern, direct-connect interchange system like the High Five or Mixmaster in Fort Worth," says TxDOT's Val Lopez.
Lopez says TxDOT worked with Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor and the Texas Rangers to pick a weekend that would not draw large crowds. Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor expect larger crowds over Labor Day, and the Rangers are in Minnesota this weekend.
"We know the Metroplex comes to this location to play," Lopez says. "There are many venues out there, so we work very closely with those stakeholders to minimize impact to them."
As construction in the area continues, Lopez says drivers should plan for closures but also for changes in the configuration. Lanes may shift or the location of exits may change.
"Motorists, especially on large projects that have lots of closures, on a daily basis need to pay attention to their surroundings because they can change, essentially, overnight," Lopez says.
Last year, 244 construction workers and drivers were killed in construction zones across the U.S.
"What really needs to be pointed out there is the vast majority of fatalities in construction zones were not construction workers," Lopez says. "They were motorists using the roadway. The leading causes of those fatalities are things they can control: driver inattention and speeding."
Texas has also had at least one road fatality every day since November 7, 2000.
"Most of the factors are things the motorist can control, paying attention to the roadways, put your cellphones down," Lopez says. "We're committed to breaking the streak of deaths on Texas roadways."
The reconstruction of the I-30/Highway 360 interchange is expected to be finished in 2023.
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