Massive Grapevine highway project could begin this year

By NICHOLAS SAKELARIS and GORDON DICKSON - The Grapevine Courier / Star-Telegram - March 4, 2009
GRAPEVINE — The massive reconstruction of seven Grapevine highways — a $1 billion-plus project known as the DFW Connector — will change the appearance of the city.

And it will change the way motorists from other cities, and Grapevine residents themselves, get around.

Capacity on highways such as Texas 114/121 will double, with the addition of toll and nontoll lanes, making it possible for the first time in decades to drive through the once-sleepy farm town without encountering gridlock.

Gone will be the hair-pulling waits at traffic signals along William D. Tate Avenue, one of the main drags leading to the city’s "restaurant row."

"We don’t go into Grapevine in certain parts of the day because of the traffic. You can’t get around," said Michele Hoffman, who lives in the south part of the city. She supports the project, which may be managed by private developers.

The Texas Department of Transportation, which plans to supplement the long-delayed project with $250 million in federal stimulus money, is expected to select a best value among the bidders this month.

But the progress will come at a cost for area property owners. Part or all of about 16 Grapevine and Southlake businesses could be removed, including the 80-room Fairfield Inn on Texas 121, according to environmental documents provided by the Transportation Department.

The plans show that up to 10 of those businesses could be bulldozed.

Even more businesses will lose parking spaces, including Sam’s Club, Baylor Regional Medical Center, Academy Sports and Classic Chevrolet, officials said.

Classic Chevrolet will lose 173 parking spaces to make way for a flyover ramp, which will allow motorists on eastbound Texas 114 in Southlake to merge onto southbound Texas 121 and head into Euless or southbound on Texas 360 en route to Arlington without stopping.

New landmarks

Some people believe that the dominant structure in Grapevine is the historic B&D Mills, visible for many miles. Others say it’s the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center. Soon, these arguments will be moot.

The DFW Connector will be 16 miles long, with four decks of ramps and overpasses, and at its peak, near the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport north entrance, the structure will rival the five-deck Interstate 30/Interstate 35W interchange, also known as the Fort Worth Mixmaster, in stature.

The Texas 114/International Parkway interchange north of D/FW Airport will have four layers, similar to the 120-foot-tall High Five at Interstate 635 and U.S. 75 in north Dallas.

Construction could begin this year if the plan gets environmental clearance from the Federal Highway Administration, as expected. The Texas Department of Transportation is reviewing three proposals from developers for design and construction. The cost of the project is estimated at $907 million on federal environmental documents, although state officials predict the cost will top $1 billion.

Hundreds of area residents, city officials and elected officials attended a public hearing last week at the Grapevine Convention Center to learn more about the project. It was the last public meeting required in the environmental study phase.

Land lost

The DFW Connector will widen and improve interchanges for Texas 121, Texas 114, Texas 360, I-635 and surrounding arterial streets. The project will take five years to complete.

The Transportation Department estimates that it will need about 192 acres of right-of-way for the project; it could begin acquisition as soon as this summer.

Hagen Durant, general manager of Classic Chevrolet, said he has been anticipating this for several years. His company will probably have to relocate part of the business to another site to make way for the flyover ramp, which will pass right over the dealership.

Another direct connection from Texas 121 and Texas 360 west to Texas 114 will also have a large flyover ramp near Carrabba’s in Grapevine, at a loss of 11 parking spaces for the restaurant.

In Southlake, the big changes include realignment of the Southlake Boulevard and Gateway Drive bridges. A new flyover ramp will let motorists exit Texas 114 directly onto Southlake Boulevard.

To do that, however, Calico Corners, an interior design store at the corner of Southlake Boulevard and Texas 114, will be displaced.

At its widest point north of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Texas 121/114 will have up to 24 lanes, including main lanes, toll lanes and access roads. The westbound main lanes will be seven-wide at one point.

Drivers who intend to travel on Texas 114 straight to Irving will have the option of using managed toll lanes that will be similar to the high-occupancy vehicle lanes on some Dallas highways.

The sheer size of the project is a little scary for Grapevine Mayor William D. Tate.

"We assume we’ll be able to learn how to leave town and find our way back home once it’s built," Tate joked.


Public comments

The public can submit written comments on the proposed project until Friday. They can be mailed to:

Maribel P. Chavez, P.E.

Texas Department of Transportation

P.O. Box 6868

Fort Worth, TX 76115
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Don't count on the Legislature to do what a community can do for itself

By Faith Chatham
One of the best op-ed pieces I've read recently was by O.K. Carter.
Arlington voters dedicated most of the sales tax to building the Dallas Cowboys a new stadium. North Tarrant County voters moved forward independent of the State Legislature on rail initatives. Citizens in Arlington are hearing about plans to run rail through Arlington for the Super Bowl game but Arlington citizens needing to leave their gas guzzling cars parked and commute to work on mass transit see no train in the near future for them to ride. Air Quality continues to be dismal and City and County and NCTCOG leaders have failed to deliver transit solutions other than toll roads and more concrete. Most Arlington citizens favor rail more than buses yet there are no firm plans for either in Arlington except for tourists.

In North Tarrant County rail initatives are moving forward and there are expectations that they will be funded, partially with surplus toll revenue from CDAs. Arlington citizens will soon be paying toll fees to avoid congestion on I-30 and probably HW360. The City of Arlington has only until the end of this month to submit applications for transit and air quality projects to be funded with part of the regions up-front concession payments. Michael Morris of the NCTCOG said that the CDA concession money can be spent on rail in this region. "If Arlington wants rail, and wants part of the concession payments to help fund it, the City must submit applications to the NCTCOG by the end of this month." Morris continued: "The NCTCOG has worked out an agreement with BNSF railroad to bring passengers through the center of Arlington for the Super Bowl game." Other than that one weekendm there are no plans for passenger rail in Arlington at this time. The NCTCOG has been holding workshops for city and county leaders, providing training on submitting grants for funding for transportation and air quality projects in Tarrant, Collin, Denton and Dallas counties. The CDA concession funds can be spent on rail projects.

"If the City of Arlington were to submit a proposal for rail to the NCTCOG," Mike Morris said: "It would be considered but the City must decide on a rail or mass transit solution and submit the application." He continued:
"If they don't by the deadline (the end of June), then we'll (the NCTCOG Staff) will continue to work with them encouraging them to choose passenger rail. We think Arlington needs it."

If Arlington wants a rail solution - other than the one weekend train to the Super Bowl - the initiative must come from the City. Citizens of Arlington, whether they want it or not, will be paying tolls to avoid congestion on HW360 and I-30. The City must move swiftly to insure that some of the surplus toll revenue returns to solve commuter and air quality problems in Arlington. .

Smart rail move may be genius
By O.K. CARTER - Star-Telegram staff writer - Sun, Jun. 03, 2007

Before the Legislature met, the decision by Grapevine's leadership and voters to fund the Cotton Belt passenger rail line merely looked like a reasonably intelligent, environmentally responsible act.

Now that the legislative session has concluded, the quality of that move has to be upgraded.

Maybe genius would be the right word.

Recollect that, during the 2005 session, a delegation from North Texas pitched the idea of a voter-approved supplemental sales tax to fund regional rail and the Legislature gave some support to the idea.

But lawmakers put off a decision, suggesting that a voter-attitudes survey would be necessary.

That survey, conducted by the Rail Transit Initiative (a coalition of area elected officials), between legislative sessions showed considerable support for passenger rail.

The idea of a sales tax not counting against the current cap went to the Legislature again.

Grapevine leaders -- in particular Mayor William D. Tate -- were certainly aware of the possibility of the enabling legislation.

The safe course would have been to wait.

But they didn't wait for the Legislature.

Grapevine voters were instead asked to approve an increase of three-eighths of a cent in the sales tax to fund a rail-only project via the Fort Worth Transportation Authority.

The idea was to extend the 21-mile stretch of Cotton Belt line from Fort Worth through Grapevine to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, ultimately ending up with 40 miles of rail.

It will link Grapevine, Colleyville, North Richland Hills and the Fort Worth Stockyards.

It will also pass by Haltom City, Richland Hills and Southlake.

With proposed extensions, the southernmost stop would be near Texas Christian University at Berry Street in Fort Worth, with other stops in the Medical District, downtown and near Interstate 35W north of 28th Street.

A Colleyville stop may eventually be included.

From Grapevine, the line will go to D/FW Airport and connect with a future DART line. Very cool.

The idea had so much appeal that county voters kicked in $25 million more.

And it appears that the North Central Texas Council of Governments will eventually contribute as much as $60 million.

The rail line should be running by 2012.

What happened with the half-cent regional sales tax idea in the legislative session that just ended?

It received only the most perfunctory hearing and then disappeared.

That leaves Grapevine sitting pretty -- its transportation accessibility and regional identity about to be considerably enhanced -- and cities like Arlington, frankly, feeling pretty glum. And looking for Plan B.

"The short answer is that we don't have a Plan B, though I'm really looking for one," concedes Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck. "Our own surveys show an enormous amount of support in Arlington for rail transit, but our remaining quarter-cent [sales tax availability] simply won't get the job done."

In the end, Arlington -- and maybe a big chunk of the rest of Tarrant County -- will have to look for a workable substitute for rail, probably something like bus rapid transit: buses linked together, possibly with dedicated lanes and traffic-signal control to ensure that there's never a red light.

But that's not as appealing as passenger rail, is it?

Grapevine gets a major boost because economic development is often about velocity.

The city now has a substantial head start in what urban planners term "transit-oriented development."

This will be particularly true of new urbanism style: mixed-use development with quick access to passenger rail. It's potentially a bonanza.

Maybe there's another message in this as well: Don't count on the Legislature to do what a community can do for itself.

Read more

FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENTS AND ISSUES

SH 121 - Funding:

The $200 million, 17 mile, SH 121 project is in the process of being funded. The funding for this project represents a collaborative effort by the affected cities (Grapevine, Coppell, Lewisville, Carrollton and The Colony) and Denton County to provide monies to support this project. The local funding provides monies to leverage additional State and Federal funding (through coordination with the North Texas Council of Governments and TxDOT) to bring this project to reality much sooner than originally planned. The funding mechanism also makes use of the State Infrastructure Bank which was created by federal legislation in the early 1990's for use in helping local agencies advance critical projects and implement them sooner than expected. Through these innovative financing techniques, the combined efforts of Denton County, the affected Cities, TxDOT and use of the State Infrastructure Bank have moved this project ahead of schedule by at least 10 years.

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