Project Pegasus: TxDOT Accelerates the Reconstruction of Dallas Interstate
With the population of Dallas, Texas, expected to double over the next
20 years, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) faces the challenge
of providing the transportation infrastructure that will support that
growth. Their answer? Project Pegasus. This initiative aims to transform
the two major Interstate freeways that serve downtown Dallas, redesigning
portions of IH 30 and IH 35E.
As part of an American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) initiative known
as Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer (ACTT), a workshop was
held in Mesquite, Texas, from September 9–11, 2003, to focus on
strategies for accelerating the 19.3-km (12-mi) Project Pegasus. The
workshop brought together local and national transportation experts
from State highway agencies, industry, academia, and FHWA. These experts’
skill areas included design, construction, innovative financing, right-of-way,
utilities, innovative contracting, the environment, work zone traffic
control, and worker safety.
The portions of the IH 30/IH 35E freeways being rebuilt as Project
Pegasus are critically congested, with bumper-to-bumper traffic occurring
for more than 6 hours a day and traffic speed averaging only 32 km/h
(20 mi/h). The traffic problems are exacerbated by the outdated layout
of the freeways, which were primarily designed in the 1950s to take
travelers to downtown Dallas. Travel patterns have changed over the
decades, however, and today four out of every five drivers remain on
the freeways and bypass downtown Dallas. Design standards have also
changed over the years: In many locations on the freeways, ramps lack
adequate acceleration or deceleration lengths, interchanges and ramps
are too close together, and bridges have limited vertical and horizontal
clearances, among other problems.
The reconstruction project will add capacity, with plans calling for
five to six lanes in each direction and one or two reversible high-occupancy
vehicle (HOV) lanes in the median. Operations and safety will also be
improved by upgrading to meet today’s design standards for freeways,
as well as by eliminating left hand merges and diverges.
The goal of the $760 million Project Pegasus is to complete the reconstruction
work in 4 years, versus the original estimate of 7 years. Other goals
are to:
- Maintain traffic with minimal disruption.
- Accommodate special events in the region.
- Provide access to emergency facilities.
- Maintain a safe work zone.
- Minimize construction delays due to right-of-way, utilities, and
railroad issues.
- Incorporate a context-sensitive design into project plans.
Don Lucas of the Heritage Group and chair of the Transportation Research
Board (TRB) Committee A5T60, the Task Force on Accelerating Innovation
in the Highway Industry, noted that customers are demanding a response
to their travel needs. “The momentum is building for change. We
need to share innovative practices and processes with each other to
create a new picture of how we can perform high-speed construction while
maintaining the quality.”
![Map of Project Pegasus location](images/pegasus3.jpg)
![Aerial view of Project Pegasus](images/pegasus2.jpg)
![Project Pegasus logo](images/pegasus1.gif)
|
Project Pegasus will transform the two major Interstate
freeways that serve downtown Dallas, IH 30 and IH 35E. |
“Acceleration is a priority topic for DOTs,” added Hal
Kassoff of Parsons Brinckerhoff and also a member of the TRB task force.
Tim Nesbitt, project manager for TxDOT, noted that challenges faced
by TxDOT in accelerating the project include having to weave construction
around railroad tracks, major employment sites, four city parks, the
Dealey Plaza historic district, American Airlines Center, and a new
proposed stadium site for the Dallas Cowboys.
Workshop participants met in smaller skill set groups to brainstorm
issues and ideas and develop recommendations for meeting the project
goals and working through the challenges. Recommendations for accelerating
the project included using design-build contracting to optimize innovation,
coordinating with utility companies early in the project planning process,
and using long-life pavements with a 50-year design life. Other recommendations
included employing construction techniques for structures that minimize
the traffic impact, such as incremental launching, lateral slide, and
heavy lift methods; improving general materials specifications to only
allow use of premium materials; using contractor incentives to minimize
traffic disruption; and setting up a dedicated incident management system
at the project site.
Additional traffic management suggestions included constructing the
planned Trinity Parkway west of I-35E prior to this project, so that
mainline traffic can be detoured onto the Parkway. This will enable
such traffic strategies as total or partial road closure, weekend closures,
or restricting road use to HOV vehicles only, to be used. The importance
of providing information to the public was emphasized, as workshop participants
noted that real-time traveler information should be provided and that
project work should be supported by intensive media efforts to let residents
and the community know about the changes taking place.
The AASHTO/FHWA ACTT team is developing a report on the workshop and
will then compile 6-month and 1-year follow-up reports detailing which
of the workshop recommendations were implemented and to what extent.
Support for the ACTT initiative is steadily gaining momentum. The
next workshop will be hosted by the California Department of Transportation
in December. Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma, and Washington State have
all indicated that they are interested in hosting workshops in 2004,
while States such as Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
New Jersey, and Wisconsin have also expressed interest in the ACTT program.
To learn more about Project Pegasus, contact Brian Barth at TxDOT,
214-320-6189, or visit the project Web site at www.projectpegasus.org.
For more information on ACTT or to learn more about hosting a workshop
in your State, contact your local FHWA Division Office or Dan Sanayi
at FHWA, 202-493-0551 (email: dan.sanayi@fhwa.dot.gov).
Back to top
..................................................
Articles in this issue:
Project Pegasus: TxDOT Accelerates the Reconstruction of Dallas Interstate
Texas Workshops Highlight High Performance Concrete
Paving Software
Awards Honor the Best and Brightest in Highway Quality
FHWA Bridge Management Information Lab: Making the
Most of the Nation's Bridge Data
..................................................