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24-lane highway slated for Grapevine
01:54 PM CST on Thursday, February 23, 2006
By REBECCA RODRIGUEZ / WFAA-TV
GRAPEVINE A massive plan is in the works to untangle gridlock in
Grapevine.
The Texas Department of Transportation is about to embark on "the
Funnel," which will include a cluster of seven highways between
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Lake Grapevine.
It will become the most expensive highway project in TxDOT history,
with a price tag of $762 million. That's three times the price of the
Dallas High Five interchange. WFAA-TV
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The busy corridor, with Highway I 14 and Highway 121, swells with
nearly 200,000 vehicles daily, t, mra, a Rebecca Rodri~guez
reports
"I think it is horrendous. It really needs to change," said Don Leaman, a Grapevine motorist.
The project will be one of TxDOT's most elaborate ever, tripling the size of the Funnel up to 24 lanes in
some places.
Construction will take between five and seven years to finish and could get under way at the start of next
year.
"The payoff will be that traffic will flow very well through the Funnel," said TxDOT spokesman
Michael Peters.
Classic Chevrolet is one of the many businesses in the path of the expansion.
"How it affects us, we just don't know. We're just waiting to see," said dealership spokesman Hank
Gaylor.
But traffic in the area may get worse before it gets better.
"I've been driving through a lot of worked on roads all through my life, so I guess I can live through
another one," said Daniel Dunn, a driver.
Construction could begin on the project as earlier as the beginning of next year.
Plans will be unveiled on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Grapevine Convention Center, 12095 S Main Street.
http://www.wfaa.com/cgi-bin/bi/gold~rint.cgi 2/23/2006