Highway 161 toll road through Grand Prairie on track

by Kirk Dickey of Grand Prairie TODAY

Despite a rocky recent few years, the Highway 161 toll road appears to be well on its way to reality.

Frontage roads are now open from I-20 to Carrier Parkway, with the exception of a railroad crossing at Main Street. But Grand Prairie Transportation Director Jim Sparks said that is in the works. The Texas Department of Transportation is going to build the crossings in spring of 2009, putting the frontage road crossings at grade, while the highway's main lanes will go underneath the tracks to allow for uninterrupted travel.

The crossing has been a significant sticking point in the past, with Grand Prairie City Councilmembers adamant that travelers must be able to cross the tracks there, rather than being forced to detour down Jefferson.

Part of the hold-up was that TxDOT had to present Union Pacific Railroad with design plans to be approved. When the railroad is satisfied that everything looks good, it will issue a permit for them to cross the railroad tracks.

“I believe they've got everything they need,” Sparks said.

Highway 161's main lanes are under construction from Carrier Parkway to Highway 183 now and seem to be progressing apace. Sparks said the contractor will have two lanes open in each direction by August 2009. The main lanes for that section should be complete by December of that year or January of 2010.

The main lanes between I-20 and Carrier Parkway have not been set yet. The North Texas Tollway Authority, which lobbied the state legislature to have right of first refusal for the project, has not officially taken it up yet.

Sparks said that everything he has been told points to NTTA still planning to build the project.

In other news related to the development around the city's Central Park project, City Engineer Romin Khavari said that east-west roadway improvements along Warrior Trail and Arkansas Lane should be completed by January 2010, when the city takes ownership of its new facilities.

Khavari said that the school district wants to get a section of Warrior Trail in front of its new Dubiski Career School done earlier, and the city is working to accommodate that.

“That is going to happen ahead of the school opening,” Khavari said. “It will be done by the time the school is ready to open.”