The Texas Department of Transportation has started construction on a $1.6 billion project to rebuild and expand several highways in southern Tarrant County. The project is TxDOT's biggest ever in the county.
The construction covers 11 miles and will expand I-20 to ten mainlanes and East Loop 820 to eight mainlanes. The project will also rebuild the interchanges among 20, 820 and Highway 287.
"What this project is doing is it's going to alleviate some of the traffic and one of the chokepoints here in this area," says David Salazar, TxDOT district engineer for Fort Worth. "A lot of traffic has to weave in and out."
Salazar says the project will increase safety, reduce congestion and bring additional economic development to the area. He says the highways currently carry about 250,000 cars and trucks a day; the expansion will be able to accommodate 370,000.
"That's a tremendous, tremendous amount of traffic," he says. "This Texas 'Clear Lanes' project will reduce congestion and improve safety in the Cities of Fort Worth, Arlington, Forest Hill and Kennedale."
"Drivers wanting to stay on I-820 or U.S. 287 will no longer merge with I-20," says Texas Transportation Commissioner Robert Vaughn. "That's a lot of drivers who benefit from having safer and more efficient options."
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute ranks I-20 from Highway 360 to 287 the 79th most congested in the state.
From 2010 to 2020, Texas' population grew 16% from 25.1 million to 29.1 million.
"Think about that," says Texas Transportation Commission Chairman J. Bruce Bugg. "Over the last ten years, that would be like the entire state of Oklahoma moving to the state of Texas."
The Texas Demographic Center says the state's population could grow from 29 million now to 47 million by 2050.
"That has enormous consequences," Bugg says. "This is 2022, and 2050 is going to be here before we know it."
Glen Whitley has served as Tarrant County Judge since 2008. He did not seek a fifth term and will leave office at the end of 2022. Since becoming judge, Tarrant County, cities and TxDOT have rebuilt parts of Highways 183, 121, 114 and Interstate 35W.
"We did that because we worked together. We knew what we wanted to get done, and we knew how important it was to the citizens of not only Tarrant County but, really, of this Metroplex and of this state because of the major roads we have going through here," Whitley says.
The Census says Tarrant County 305,180 residents from 2010 to 2020, the fifth fastest growing county in the nation.
Whitley says redesigned bus routes, TRE rail to Dallas and TEXRail to DFW Airport show how the county is prepared to continue growing. Long term, he says an expansion of TEXRail to Fort Worth's Near Southside and ultimately to Hulen Mall will give people more options to avoid traffic.
"You're going to blink, and we're going to be at 2050," he says. "At that period of time, we've got to have other, alternative forms of transportation."
Whitley serves on the Regional Transportation Council.
Construction on I-20, 820 and 287 is expected to continue about five years. Salazar, the TxDOT engineer, says drivers will notice exits and traffic patterns changing, so he urges people to pay attention to signs as routes may be altered.
"It is going to be a couple of heartaches before we get to the final product, but I do promise, once we do get to the final product, it's going to alleviate congestion and get traffic flowing through here a lot quicker," he says.
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