Chisholm Trail Parkway on Schedule

Tarrant County toll road set to open in the spring

The North Texas Tollway Authority says the Chisholm Trail Parkway is on schedule for a spring completion.

If good weather continues and everything goes as planned, the closures and detours that have been a curse for Fort Worth drivers won't last all that much longer.

Construction crews, which have a 30-month schedule to complete the 28-mile-long toll road, are in the home stretch, with about six to eight months to go.

There is plenty of visible progress, along with plenty of detours and closures.

"It feels like it's taken forever, especially since I take that commute to work almost every single day -- just a huge hassle," said Lauren Holub, of Fort Worth.

"Everything is a bottleneck," said Sam Esquivel, of Fort Worth. "Every time you bottleneck anything, it becomes a parking lot, and I see a lot of that happening."

The evening commute often features slow-and-go traffic along the Rosedale Street bridge, which is partially closed while crews rebuild a section of the bridge near Vickery Boulevard.

"We were trying to get to the zoo, and it took us on crazy detours and put us in the wrong direction to get there," Holub said. "I kind of want them to hurry up and finish it."

While it's tough to hit the accelerator on building a roadway above and next to a busy highway, NTTA spokesman Michael Rey said the new toll road is on schedule for a spring 2014 opening.

The NTTA knows drivers are dealing with the construction pains and appreciates their patience, Rey said. The agency is reminding drivers to drive carefully in construction zones for their own safety, as well as the safety of construction workers.

While progress is already more noticeable near downtown Fort Worth, the area will see even more work in the months ahead. One major change still to come is the shifting of lanes for Interstate 30. When that happens, it will be a big sign that the finished product has almost arrived.

"I can't wait," Holub said.

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