North Texas drivers are intimately familiar with accidents slowing down the morning commute. However, Tuesday's accident on Interstate 35E was unusual.
A fatal collision between a pickup truck and an 18-wheeler blocked three lanes of traffic on Stemmons Freeway and caused a domino effect everywhere else. All traffic coming into downtown Dallas from other highways slowed to a crawl.
is still under investigation, but how did one wreck stop Dallas traffic in its tracks?
It's not a mystery, one transportation official said.
Blame the Mixmaster, a group of congested, aging highways.
One spot, many highways
鈥淎nytime you get this many highways together, it doesn鈥檛 take a whole lot for one incident to really affect traffic for quite a long time, in some cases,鈥� said Tony Hartzel with the Texas Department of Transportation. 鈥淲e have I-30, I-35E, Woodall Rodgers, and even I-345 all coming together in the downtown area.鈥�
Hartzel says about 242,000 vehicles travel through I-35E. In comparison, about 400,000 vehicles are using the Mixmaster to get to downtown Dallas.
Ramps pose weaving woes
The multiple on- and off-ramps on the interchange also presents a problem for TxDOT.
The ramps 鈥渃reate a lot of 鈥榳eaving and merging challenges,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淧eople [want] to get on and off the highway in a short amount of space and it does cause some fender-bender incidences.鈥�
According to Hartzel, the Mixmaster presents one of the biggest challenges for North Texas transportation officials.
But there are other areas causing traffic headaches: I-35E and Central Expressway is one of the busiest sections of road in North Texas, as well as the High Five interchange in North Dallas.
A solution? The Horseshoe
TxDOT is replacing part of the Mixmaster with the And North Texans hope that eases the traffic crunch in that part of Dallas.
The estimated $818 million project will include replacing the I-30 and I-35E bridges over the Trinity River, and creating extra lanes. It's expected to be finished in 2017.
From the Dallas Horseshoe :
Dubbed the 鈥淗orseshoe Project鈥� due to its U shape, construction improvements include the expansion, repaving and addition of several new bridges and roadways along Interstates 30 and 35E; and the construction of a new signature bridge, the Margaret McDermott Bridge, over I-30.
Learn more: Texas' most congested highways
Explore the Texas Department of Transportation's Several North Texas highways are high on that list. Here are the North Texas roadways in the top 10:
4. U.S. Highway 75 between Interstate 635 and Woodall Rodgers Freeway -- Dallas County
5. Interstate 35 between State Highway 183 and Interstate 30 -- Dallas County
7. Interstate 635 between Interstate 35 and U.S. Highway 75 -- Dallas County
8. Interstate 35W between State Highway 183 and Interstate 30 -- Tarrant County
10. Interstate 35E between Interstate 635 and Loop 12 -- Dallas County
