By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-848356.mp3
Dallas, TX –
A heads-up for I-30 motorists in Arlington: the freeway will be shut down at Collins Street all weekend. KERA's BJ Austin says the closure begins at 8 tonight and will last thru Sunday evening.
The Interchange that loops drivers around before feeding them onto Collins from I-30 is getting straightened out as part of the I-30 improvements thru the Arlington Entertainment District. But aggressive 24 hour demolition of the Collins Street overpass will shut down I-30, both directions, all weekend.
Traffic will be detoured to the service roads. And, Collins Street drivers wishing to cross I-30 will be detoured to the new Center Street overpass. Val Lopez, with the Texas Department of Transportation, says it may be an inconvenience for some but THIS is the weekend to close the freeway.
Lopez: The Rangers are not in town, the new stadium is not hosting any events. This summer, there's a lot of even traffic in that area, and so this is a relatively quiet weekend. So, in cooperation with the city, we determined this is the best possible time to do this.
Lopez says the aggressive "weekend" demo schedule for the bridge will put the who project about four MONTHS ahead of schedule. He says work-crews could take up the construction cones in November, instead of next spring.