Harwood Road extension will provide another route to DFW Airport

With the proposed extension of Harwood Road, motorists in a few years may have a new east-west pathway to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

DFW Airport and the Texas Department of Transportation are looking at plans to build a 1.27-mile four-lane extension of Harwood Road to help ease traffic congestion in and around the airport.

Officials from TxDOT, the Federal Aviation Administration and the airport are holding an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Mary Lib Saleh Public Library, 201 N. Ector Drive, to give the public a chance to comment on the project.

Plans include extending Harwood Road from Texas 360 east to International Parkway. Texas 360 would then link up with Rental Car Drive and Northgate Drive, forming a new east-west corridor connecting Euless and Irving.

“We're excited about it. It’s going to provide another avenue for our residents to go east or west,” said Euless spokeswoman Betsy Deck.

The road would be built on airport land that is mostly undeveloped, DFW spokesman David Magana said.

Construction probably won’t begin for at least three years, Magana said. An environmental impact study is underway, and once that’s complete the design and construction may then go forward.

A cost estimate wasn’t yet available, said TxDOT spokesman Val Lopez.

Regionally important roads

Harwood Road is a city street, not a highway, that runs from Davis Boulevard in North Richland Hills through Hurst, Bedford and Euless and in many areas cuts through residential neighborhoods.

But because TxDOT has vast expertise in hiring contractors and securing state and federal funds for road work, it often oversees contracts for local agencies. DFW Airport likely would play a strong role in the project, since nearly all the work would take place on airport property.

Harwood Road could become a regionally important road, similar to Mid-Cities Boulevard, an east-west corridor that changes names as it cuts through Saginaw, north Fort Worth, Watauga, North Richland Hills, Hurst, Colleyville and Euless.

Unlike Harwood, Mid-Cities already has access to DFW Airport, crossing over Texas 360 to connect to Airfield Drive, which intersects with International Parkway. The stretch of Mid-Cities from Texas 360 to Airfield Drive, which runs by Bear Creek Golf Course, was recently expanded.

Deck said because the Harwood extension is in an undeveloped area, road work likely won't cause disruptions to motorists and won't require the taking of any property belonging to homes or businesses.

“The least amount of disruption the better,” Deck said.

Eager for alternate routes

The extension of Harwood Road is part of a larger regional effort to improve mobility in the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s congested center.

DFW Airport has more than 18,000 acres, making it larger than the island of Manhattan. It’s widely considered the biggest economic engine and most important job center in North Texas, but for commuters it also forms a formidable geographic obstruction smack dab in the middle of the Metroplex.

For years, motorists in Northeast Tarrant County and western Dallas County have dealt with congested, outdated roads and massive construction projects.

For example, the $2.5 billion North Tarrant Express project — which included a complete makeover of Texas 121/183 “Airport Freeway” in Bedford, Euless and Hurst — was completed about a year ago. But now, a similar project known as Midtown Express — the reconstruction of Texas 183 from Industrial Boulevard in Euless to Interstate 35E in Irving and Dallas — is just getting underway and promises to keep area highways choked with orange barrels until 2018.

So motorists remain eager for alternate routes.

“Highway 183 is about to be under major construction, and what we've found in the past is when the highway is under construction, Highway 10 fills up very quickly,” Deck said. “This will just provide one more connector that residents can use to help keep moving and get home.”

On Texas 183 in Euless, motorists can expect work related to the Midtown Express project to pick up steam toward the end of the year, said Midtown Express spokeswoman Selma Stockstill. The plans call for adding one toll lane in each direction, and reconstruction and modernization of existing lanes, she said.

“By the end of the year in the Euless area, you will see some activity,” Stockstill said, adding that some minor traffic switches near the south entrance to DFW Airport are already taking place.

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Harwood Road extension will provide another route to DFW Airport."