COLLIN COUNTY – The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has begun work on the southbound U.S. 75 ramp reversal project in Collin County. Work on the 1-mile project to reverse the exit and entrance ramp configuration from Bethany Drive (exit 33) to Frontage Road (exit 32A) started on Tuesday, Sept. 2, with periodic lane closures to place barricades in preparation for the ramp reversal.

The Bethany Drive entrance ramp to U.S. 75 will be closed beginning Sept. 8, to enable workers to remove the existing concrete ramp and replace it with an exit ramp. This will be followed by closure of the Frontage Road exit ramp so it can be removed and rebuilt as an entrance ramp. Once the ramps have been reversed, TxDOT will re-stripe the roadway at that location so motorists can easily understand the new configuration.

“Our goal for this project is to reduce congestion and provide greater mobility through the City of Allen,” said Ron Johnston, P.E., area engineer of the TxDOT Collin County Area Office. “After completing this ramp reversal, it should allow motorists to be able to travel more fluidly, without the mainlane traffic being affected by the frontage road traffic.”

Message boards announcing the construction have been placed along U.S. 75 to provide information to the traveling public.

The contractor for this $1.6 million project is Ed Bell Construction Company, of Dallas. Estimated project completion is April 2009, weather permitting.