Construction on Highway 360/Interstate 30 interchange in Arlington will close 360 in both directions this weekend. The closure is part of the $233 million project to modernize the interchange.
"The interchange, basically, was a series of loop ramps that went through stop lights," says TxDOT's Val Lopez. "We're modernizing like the Mixmaster or High Five. Where there were empty skies at the beginning of the project, we are putting direct-connect interchange ramps which will make connectivity better. It'll make it safer, and it'll make it quicker for motorists to get from I-30 to 360 and vice versa."
The interchange was built when I-30 was a toll road in the 1950s and required people to go through traffic lights and toll booths to get from one highway to another.
"This is basically the crossroads of the Metroplex," Lopez says. "This is where the Metroplex comes to meet and play, so it was the region's decision to upgrade this interchange."
Lopez says TxDOT works with the Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys and Six Flags Over Texas to try to schedule closures for weekends with little impact, but both the Cowboys and Rangers are at home this weekend.
"We do our best to minimize impacts on various venues. We're in constant contact with them, but we're in a very aggressive phase of construction," he says.
In addition to the Cowboys and Rangers, Bad Bunny has a concert scheduled at AT&T Stadium Friday night.
Mayor Jim Ross says TxDOT has worked with Arlington, but the agency would have struggled to find a weekend without activity in the Entertainment District.
"This is what we're made for. This is what we're proud of," Ross says. "We bring a ton of tourists to Arlington."
Ross says closures may make travel through North Arlington tougher this weekend, but the project will ensure economic growth long-term.
"The semi-pro soccer league is playing in Arlington, the Rangers, the Cowboys, Bad Bunny, Chase Rice, John Anderson, you name it, we've got it going on," he says. "If you can't find something to do in Arlington, you're not looking."
Bad Bunny plays AT&T Stadium Friday night; Chase Rice is at Levitt Pavilion Saturday, and John Anderson is at Arlington Music Hall Saturday.
Ross says Arlington Police will be directing traffic at the interchange, and he urges people to leave extra time this weekend.
Traffic will be detoured to the frontage road of 360 between Six Flags Drive and Brown Boulevard. TxDOT's Lopez says people can also use 161 and Bush Turnpike to avoid the closure, which is scheduled from 8 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday.
I-30 will remain open. Lopez urges drivers who pass through the area regularly to watch for changes because the layout is changing rapidly.
"The vast majority of fatalities in construction zones are not construction workers. They're actually motorists," he says. "The reasons for those crashes are typically inattention and not driving the speed limit."
Get KRLD Traffic & weather together on the 8s
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Tell your Smart Speaker to "PLAY 1080 KRLD"
Sign Up and Follow NewsRadio 1080 KRLD