Exit Ramp in McKinney to Re-open to Traffic as Progress Continues on Major Sam Rayburn Tollway Interchanges

Crews continue to make progress on construction of two major interchanges connecting U.S. 75 and the Dallas North Tollway with the Sam Rayburn Tollway.

The northbound U.S. 75 (Central Expressway) exit to Eldorado Parkway in McKinney is expected to re-open to traffic in mid-October 2010.

The Eldorado Parkway exit from northbound U.S. 75 has been closed to allow crews to complete work critical to the new SRT/U.S. 75 interchange. The re-opening of the Eldorado exit ramp – which leads to restaurants and shopping venues – is expected to occur in mid-October 2010.  The opening date is subject to favorable weather conditions.

In recent weeks, crews achieved other milestones on the SRT/U.S. 75 interchange project:

• In late August 2010, workers moved all U.S. 75 traffic within the project limits onto the newly reconstructed and newly paved northbound U.S. 75 main lanes. Workers then began removing the old pavement on the southbound U.S. 75 main lanes.
• The contractor continued to place concrete paving at various locations throughout the project and columns for the Medical Center Drive overpass. Workers also made steady progress setting retaining wall panels, finishing bridge columns, and placing concrete pavement on various bridge decks.

Meanwhile, in Plano and Frisco, crews constructing the SRT/DNT interchange continued to make progress, completing all the bridge columns and caps for the direct-connector from northbound SRT to southbound DNT in late August 2010. They also completed the two columns for the bridge over Parkwood Boulevard and re-opened two lanes of traffic on Parkwood that had been closed during construction.

The southbound SRT entrance ramp just west of Parkwood Boulevard was closed for 60 days in early September. This closure, expected to last through Nov. 7, will allow crews to remove a section of the entrance ramp paving so that they can construct a bridge foundation. Motorists traveling southbound on the SRT frontage road (SH 121) who want to enter the SRT, now travel underneath the DNT to the next entrance ramp just east of Legacy Drive.

To receive up-to-date information on SRT corridor construction, lane closures and traffic pattern changes, please sign up for the NTTA’s SRT e-newsletter. A link to the list of scheduled lane and ramp closures is also available at www.ntta.org.

Both SRT interchanges will open in phases, and the entire SRT corridor is expected to be fully open to traffic in January 2012.