ShareHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
ARLINGTON -- Drivers on Interstate 30 between Dallas and Fort Worth may soon see billboard-sized signs renaming the road the "Tom Landry Super Bowl Highway," said Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
Morris made the announcement Tuesday night when he spoke to about two dozen residents at a public forum hosted by the Arlington League of Women Voters at Westminster Presbyterian Church. He updated the group on the Super Bowl transportation plan, which he described as creating a "World's Fair atmosphere for transportation."Although the National Football League cannot veto the new highway signs, Morris said he wants to run the plan past league officials who will visit North Texas in early April. The Texas Department of Transportation "is ready to go," he said, "but we're going to show them to the NFL, who are our partners in this."The current signs say "IH 30 Tom Landry Highway" and display the iconic fedora worn by the legendary Dallas Cowboys coach. "Super Bowl Hwy" would replace "Highway," but the fedora would stay.Morris said another idea being floated is painting cars coming off the Arlington General Motors assembly line in the colors of the teams in Super Bowl XLV, which will be played Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium. Those cars would then be shipped to the competing cities to be sold or auctioned.He stressed the need to provide alternative transportation to the game to reduce traffic jams, especially since some parking will be lost to a concrete security barrier that will ring the stadium.Plans include transporting 10,000 Super Bowl ticketholders by rail from Dallas and Fort Worth to a temporary station in downtown Arlington, where buses will ferry them to the stadium. Morris addressed the concerns of residents who worry about Super Bowl congestion in north Arlington and promised to review possible ramifications for three nearby hospitals."We'll check the level of service in front of the hospitals," he said, scribbling a note to himself.The high-occupancy-vehicle lane on I-30 will be used for buses only. Morris said that he spent all of this year's Super Bowl Sunday working with traffic control in Miami and that one thing he wants to avoid is the mingling of buses and cars.He expects to shuttle people arriving by private jet using a taxilike helicopter service.And in case ice or snow strikes during Super Bowl week, he said, sand and chemicals will be stored nearby so roads can be treated immediately."I am using the Super Bowl as an excuse to do all the transportation projects we should be doing anyway," said Morris, who also unveiled an updated Metropolitan Transportation Plan, Mobility 2030, designed to help the region handle the expanding population.PETE ALFANO, 817-390-7985
@Nyx.CommentBody@