Maintained by: TxDOT | ||
Roads at
junction: I-30 (Tom Landry Freeway, East R.L. Thornton Freeway)
I-35E (South R.L. Thornton Freeway, Stemmons Freeway) Type: Modified stack interchange Constructed: 1958-1962 (Mixmaster)
2013-present (Horseshoe) by Pegasus Link Constructors | ||
The Horseshoe Project is a new $798 million highway project under construction in Dallas, Texas. The Horseshoe will upgrade the currently congested Mix Master interchange in Downtown Dallas. The Mix Master is a highway interchange which includes Interstate 35E (I-35E) and I-30. Construction began during the spring of 2013 and is slated to end in 2017. Pegasus Link Constructors, a partnership between Balfour Beatty Infrastructure and Fluor Enterprises, will use a design-build method. The project will include design elements from Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
Contents
Overview
In its current state, the Mix Master is among the 17 most congested roadways in Texas, seeing more than 460,000 vehicles in a week. The project will replace the bridges of I-30 and I-35E that cross the Trinity River that were built in the 1930s and 1950s and the two highways will have a combined 23 lanes (the current interchange only has 16). $500 million will come from the federal government and the other $298 million will come from the state and local governments.
The Mix Master
The Mix Master was constructed between 1958 and 1962 and never saw much significant change since its construction. Minor improvements included converting the shoulders to travel lanes and elevating the HOV Lane for I-35E over the interchange to Houston Street and Jefferson Boulevard. At the time of construction, most freeway traffic in the area went into Downtown, whereas today most bypass it. As a result, the interchange was designed accordingly and had incomplete access along with on-ramps in close proximity to off-ramps that results in a lot of weaving in and out of traffic.
Layout
The Mix Master is essentially a highly modified stack interchange. There is no direct access from eastbound I-30 to southbound I-35E and northbound I-35E to westbound I-30. Due to this problem, many drivers use Riverfront Boulevard. From southbound I-35E, both exits to I-30 are from the left lane (southbound to westbound has a flyover ramp). Northbound I-35E to eastbound I-30 includes an exit to Cadiz Street. Westbound I-30 has a left hand exit to I-35E (at this point, the freeway is only 2 lanes) and the exit to northbound I-35E passes near the old site of Reunion Arena and has a low visibility point. Westbound I-30 to northbound I-35E is a left hand exit (much like the south I-35E exit to west I-30) and drops to two lanes through the area. An unusual design of the Mix Master is that I-35E runs between I-30, which is often the cause of many visibility problems.
City streets in the area include Riverfront Boulevard, Jefferson Boulevard, Houston Street, Cadiz Street and Canton Street.