State Highways 114 and 121 near DFW Airport are more dangerous than ever before.
I noticed that on Saturday afternoon as I was driving amid the construction chaos a/k/a the DFW Connector Project. Traffic was backed up for miles. Lanes were shut down. Concrete barriers narrowed the remaining roads. It was often hard to figure out which lane you were supposed to be in.
This big dig — which will cost more than $1 billion — has been going on since February 2010 and will continue though 2014.
There will be 14 lanes in each direction, including toll road, at its widest points.
Great. We’re turning into LA with more highways. and more people. More crashes. More injuries.More congestion. More sprawl. More pollution.
Last year, there were 52 percent more collisions in that area than the number traffic researchers calculated there would be without construction.
And the numbers surged 74 percent during nights and weekends, when crews were busiest.
The study also found that many of the drivers involved in the crashes were talking on their cell phones.
Really?
There were 787 collisions in this area last year, with rear-end collisions by far the leading type of crash. I know – I’ve represented more drivers than usual from wrecks that happened in the Mid Cities.