Welcome to the TxDOT 635 East virtual stakeholders meeting presentation to discuss design modifications at the Garland Avenue intersection and areas nearby.

You're viewing this presentation because you've likely been contacted by mail by the Texas Department of Transportation, inviting you to view this video and to submit your comments or questions about the proposed design changes at Garland. 

These design changes are part of an even larger construction project known as 635 East, which will perform roadway improvements on an 11 mile section of Interstate 635 in Dallas County.

Directions on how to submit your comments will be discussed at the end of this video and listed on our website.

Deadline to submit all comments is Friday May 15th.

Let's begin the presentation with a brief project overview before getting into the specifics of the Garland Avenue design changes.

The project's 11-mile starts to the east of US Highway 75, all the way to I-30.

Construction will also include about two miles along Interstate 30 to reconstruct the 635 and 30 direct connectors.

When Interstate 635 opened to traffic in the 60s, it was only made to handle an average daily traffic count of about 180,000 vehicles.

These days, we have an average daily traffic count of about 210,000 vehicles, which is only expected to grow.

Listed here on the screen are the major contributions that 635 East will bring to the community when complete. 

The project will work to provide the following benefits, such as provide congestion relief by increasing the traffic capacity along the general purpose lanes, increase area mobility and local connectivity by creating continuous frontage roads along the project's 11-mile stretch, provide
reliable travel time by maintaining the existing managed lanes operations that are already in place along Interstate 635, and improve safety along the corridor by addressing outdated roadway designs.

The diagrams on the slide shows a before-and-after depiction of the existing lanes compared to what the roadway will look like when construction is complete.

General purpose lanes will go from eight lanes to ten across 635.

A shoulder and replacement of delineators into concrete barriers will be added to the one existing manage toll lane in each direction along the project.

Frontage roads will be made continuous all along the project's 11 miles.

And a full reconstruction of intersecting cross streets along the project, as well as the direct connectors at the 635 and 30 interchange.

Here you'll see a makeup of the 635 east core project team starting off with TxDOT, who owns and manages the project.

And Pegasus Link constructors, the project's design-build contractor, which is a joint venture between Fluor and Balfour Beatty. 

The project will cost 1.7 billion dollars to build using the design-build method, which reduces construction time as the design and build processes required for the project are happening simultaneously.

TxDOT executed its contract with PLC in August 2019, initiating the project's design process shortly after in September 2019 after TxDOT granted PLC its Notice to Proceed or "NTP 1."

NTP was issued in January of this year, which allowed PLC to take over maintenance of the project limits lasting the project duration.

Currently, we are here on the project schedule.

Utility relocations and major construction work will begin in the late spring months and early summer.

Substantial completion is anticipated in late 2024 when all new lanes along the project are in their permanent configurations.

Now let's switch gears and begin discussing the specific design changes that are being made to the originally proposed design of the Garland Avenue intersection at 635.

Seen here on the red highlighted section on the map is 11 mile project limits of the 635 East the design modifications encompasses this area in the blue box just west of Garland Avenue to east of Shiloh Road.

Here we have a side-by-side comparison of the same intersection between the originally proposed schematic and the plans of the proposed changes to that design.

Major changes that will be made to the original design include the proposed eastbound and westbound frontage roads being made to be on new elevated structures at Garland and the KCS rail line.

Garland and Shiloh being maintained at the same elevation.

Added loop ramps, new locations of U-turns as well as exit and entrance ramps.

And the removal of this connection, referred to as a jug handle due to its shape, in the original design.

We'll go over all these changes in detail in the next few slides.

Here we have a more realistic depiction of the area if we decided to go with the original schematic to build the new roadway.

In the original design, you can see that this jug handle connection is what drivers would use to get to and from the westbound frontage road from Shiloh Road.

The original design also has both the Northwest Highway exit and Garland Avenue entrance ramps to and from the eastbound 635 mainlanes built in this overlapping braided configuration.

Both eastbound and westbound frontage roads would depress below the KCS Rail and form an at-grade intersection at Garland Avenue.

The KCS Rail line would be elevated on a structure above the frontage roads.

And although it's not too noticeable on this flyover photo, in the original design, Shiloh Road and Garland Avenue would be built significantly lower than the existing elevation crossing below I-635 and approaching the intersection.

Still on the original design, this is a closer look at how the underpass structure would look like at the KCS Rail line. 

All these design details from the original schematic, including this underpass design at the frontage road, will no longer be used to build Garland Avenue and its surrounding areas, as part of the 635 East project. 

Now, let's go into what designs will actually be used to build the roadway.

The frontage roads will now be on elevated structures crossing over Garland Avenue and KCS Rail, the complete opposite of what was proposed in the original design.

These new loop ramps will help get drivers to and from Garland Avenue from the 635 East mainlanes.

For example, in order to get from Garland Avenue onto the eastbound frontage road, you would have to take this loop ramp on the south side of 635.

Similarly, this loop ramp on the north side of 635 will help drivers access Garland Avenue from the westbound frontage road.

This lane adjacent from the north loop ramp will serve as a connection to the westbound frontage road for northbound and southbound Garland Avenue drivers.

Another thing about these new loop ramps is that it'll provide drivers that west-to-east traffic movement, which means it completely eliminates the need for a designated west-to-east U-turn lane.

This is why, on this new design, the west-to-east U-turn, originally placed along Garland, has been removed.

While we're talking about U-turns, you'll find on this new design that we're keeping the east-to-west U-turn.

The only change about this U-turn from the original design is that it'll be moved about 1,000 feet to the west of Garland Avenue.

Another thing you'll notice about this new proposed design is that it will remove the jug handle connection from Shiloh Road to the westbound frontage road.

The proposed design in this area will now be a more subtle, at-grade signalized intersection.

Garland Avenue and Shiloh Road will no longer be built as depressed roadways, but instead will be maintained at about the same existing elevation. 

Finally, we are spreading apart the design of the once overlapping eastound exit to Northwest Highway, and eastbound entrance from Garland Avenue.

We are removing the braided ramp design originally implemented in the approved schematic.

Now the eastbound 635 exit ramp to Northwest highway will be built approximately 300 feet to the west, and the entrance ramp from Garland Avenue to eastbound 635 will be shifted approximately 1,000 feet to the east. 

This shifted exit and entrance ramp locations will not impact access to and from the 635 mainlanes and local streets. 

In addition, all of these new design changes mentioned above will not need additional right-of-way to be acquired from the adjacent properties.

Here's a closer look at the loop ramp on the south side of 635.

If you're driving south on Garland and you're interested in accessing the eastbound frontage road, you'd have to  take this loop ramp that gets you to the same elevation as the existing main lanes.

This connection alongside of the loop ramp is the new exit from the frontage road to Garland Avenue.

Northboung Garland traffic who want to access the eastbound frontage road would be able to turn left at the signalized intersection.

Now, a closer look at the loop ramp on the north side of 635, which has the same kind of concept from the one on the south, except you start off at the westbound frontage road and access Garland Avenue using the loop ramp.

As for these lanes right beside the north loop ramp, they will allow Garland Avenue traffic access to the westbound frontage road.

This intersection for Garland traffic to turn into the frontage road will also be signalized.

Now that we've gone over all the design changes, it's time for you to share your thoughts and comments with us.

You have three options to submit your comments by the listed deadline, Friday May 15th.

You may email info@635east.com, or use the built-in comment form directly on the website.

Leave a voicemail at 1-833-HWY-635E or mail us a letter sent to our project office Abrams.

Please don't forget to submit your full name, address and contact information along with your comments.

Thanks for watching our presentation,