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Construction Activity Spurred on Chisholm Trail Parkway Traffic and trains aren’t the only things hustling through the busy area near Interstate 30 and the Rosedale Street connector bridges, the Union Pacific Railroad’s Davidson Yard and the Hulen Street bridge. Construction related to the future Chisholm Trail Parkway is stirring up activity as well.
New Rosedale Street bridges opened to traffic on July 13, giving drivers a direct connection to Rosedale Street from I-30 and easier access into the Medical District. Under construction since April 2010, the bridges signal progress in the construction work that has been performed during the last several months to prepare for the Chisholm Trail Parkway. Reconstruction of these bridges allows for construction beneath Rosedale Street.
Work also continues around the Hulen Street bridge where it crosses the Davidson Yard and the new toll road will be built underneath the new bridge.
Once completed, the new Hulen Street bridge will be located east of the existing bridge and will have greater capacity, increasing from two to three lanes in each direction. The new structure will also be pedestrian friendly with a 10-foot sidewalk on the northbound side of the bridge.
As crews work to prepare the area for the bridge construction, they reduced the existing Hulen Street bridge to two lanes of traffic, one in each direction. The limited workspace and heavy rail traffic in the Davidson Yard necessitates continuous lane closures on the Hulen Street Bridge to ensure the safety of construction crews as well as motorists driving through the construction zone. The closed lanes are also used for materials and personnel access, light crane usage, steel reinforcing assembly, concrete pumping and material staging for work being performed below the bridge.
Crews have been performing excavation work, constructing retaining walls, building bridge foundations and support beams, and demolishing the existing bridge ramps from northbound Hulen Street to eastbound Vickery Boulevard.
Construction of the new Hulen Street bridge will occur in three phases:
- Phase I includes ground level construction in the Davidson Yard and the construction of the new bridge approaches. Work on Phase I is expected to wrap up in spring 2012.
- Phase II, scheduled for completion in late 2012, includes completing the new Hulen Street bridge spanning the Davidson Yard. Once Phase II is completed, traffic will be switched from the old bridge to the new structure. After the switch, traffic on the new bridge will remain restricted to one lane in each direction until the old bridge is demolished.
- During Phase III, the final phase, approaches on the north and south side of the bridge will be completed allowing for three lanes of traffic in each direction on Hulen Street. Phase III is scheduled for completion by mid-2013.
Pending project financing, construction of the entire 27-mile Chisholm Trail Parkway project is not expected to begin until this fall. Chisholm Trail Parkway will offer drivers a continuous route from downtown Fort Worth south to Cleburne. The entire project is expected to open to traffic in early 2014.
For the latest Chisholm Trail Parkway construction updates and lane closures, visit www.NTTA.org, or call 817-207-0184. For general project information, visit www.NTTA.org where you also can sign up to receive bi-weekly project updates.
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