Hwy 151 at I-410: that darned southbound frontage road

We've been underway only six months on two new direct connectors at Hwy 151 and I-410 and Williams Brothers Construction has accomplished so much it's nearly impossible to really keep up with what's happening. At their current blistering pace, they've got a few more changes coming shortly.

Re-opening a ramp

The eastbound Hwy 151 on-ramp from Ingram and Potranco roads will be reopened by the end of next week, weather permitting. This should relieve some of the pressure on the intersection of the Hwy 151 and I-410 frontage roads, particularly in the mornings.

The ramp was closed a few months ago - initially planned to be closed for about a year - to allow WB to work on support structures for the new connector from eastbound Hwy 151 to northbound I-410. Crews are scheduled to construct the final abutment (a concrete shelf supporting bridge beams). That should eliminate the overhead work - for now - and make the ramp safe to reopen.

The ramp will close on a very temporary, short-term basis as needed to set bridge support beams and pour concrete later on, but that work will not likely happen for a few months.

Closing some driveways

We've got a lot of work as WB expands the southbound frontage road of I-410, particularly between Military Drive and Hwy 151. Traffic has been pinched to two lanes while crews have been working nearly around-the-clock to do dirt and concrete work, as well as to build a bridge expansion over Slick Creek. 

Next up is some work requiring closures of some pretty major driveways. We won't get into these until after Fiesta, but expect to see these closures begin April 25. There are two separate areas of closure involved here.

The first area is attached to Westover Hills Marketplace. We'll start with the driveway near Johnny Carinos and Chilis (Driveay One), with that driveway closing the morning of April 25.

A look at Driveway One, which will shut down for about two weeks beginning April 25.

We'll need about two weeks to finish work across that driveway, then move down the line to the driveway near Cracker Barrel and Buffalo Wild Wings (Driveway Two). Once that driveway work is done, we'll move to the driveway near Starbucks (Driveway Three).

Driveways Two (center of picture) and Three (left of screen) will close in succession as work across the previous driveway is complete. Only one driveway will close at a time, and each driveway should be finished within two weeks.

Again, each driveway will be closed about two weeks. As soon as work on one driveway is finished and reopened, WB will move to the next. Business access will continue through other driveways connecting the frontage road to this shopping center.

We need to do the same thing near Wal-Mart and at the driveway to IBC Bank and Quality Inn. These driveways will be closed during the same timeframe for similar time durations. Business access to the Wal-Mart shopping center will continue from West Military; traffic will reach IBC Bank and Quality Inn via Richland Hills.

These driveway closures should be wrapped up - again, if weather cooperates - by the end of May.

Fiesta

As most of our projects in the metro area, we won't have any major closures during Fiesta on this project so we're out of the way while everyone is celebrating. The one exception will be Monday, April 18 - a night without much we'd impact Fiesta-wise (though some cool daytime events are worth checking out).
That night expect to see a closure of at least a single lane on the northbound frontage road of I-410 between Hwy 151 and West Military. Details will be in our weekly lane closures report this weekend, but the work to be accomplished involves pouring concrete on the bridge expansion at Slick Creek. Work will be begin about 10 p.m. Monday and wrap up by 5:30 Tuesday morning.