Bad weather pushes back closing of Main Street bridge in Euless

Steady rain has pushed back the closing of the Main Street bridge over Texas 183 to Tuesday.

The bridge was scheduled to be closed at 11 p.m. Friday, said Selma Santin, a spokeswoman for SouthGate Constructors, the company managing the Midtown Express construction project.

It is still scheduled to be demolished June 10.

The pedestrian bridge that served Euless Junior High will also be removed June 10. The bridge connects the junior high, north of Texas 183, to neighborhoods south of the highway.

But drivers need to gear up for detours that will be in effect for about 18 months. The result will be a wider bridge to accommodate increasing traffic.

Business owners got a chance to see the detour maps last month during a meeting in Euless.

Santin said the best way to stay informed about up-to-the-minute road and highway closures is to follow the Midtown Express project on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and on the Midtown Express website.

The detour from South Main to North Main Street calls for drivers to turn right on Texas 10. If they don’t, they’ll be forced onto the Texas 183 frontage road.

From Texas 10, drivers will turn right on Dickey Drive, then left on East Euless Boulevard. That will take them to the American Boulevard cloverleaf lanes, which lead to the eastbound Texas 183 frontage road, which leads back to North Main Street.

To get from North Main Street to South Main Street, drivers will turn right on the westbound Texas 183 frontage road and follow it to Ector Drive, where they will make the U-turn across Texas 183 and head back east to South Main Street.

The Midtown Express project includes rebuilding main lanes on Texas 183, improving ramps and access roads, and adding one toll lane in each direction. The project is an extension of the $2.5 billion North Tarrant Express in neighboring Bedford and Hurst.

When the work is finished, the entire 28-mile corridor of Loop 820 and Texas 121/183 will be rebuilt from Interstate 35W in Fort Worth to I-35E in Dallas. Drivers can use the main lanes or the toll lanes, also called TEXPress lanes.

The Main Street bridge needs a makeover, as it has consistently gotten poor inspection scores. The bridge, built in 1970, is structurally obsolete, according to Texas Department of Transportation records.

The bridge at Industrial Boulevard will also be replaced as part of the Midtown Express project.

Business concerns

Sean Hooda, a longtime business owner in Euless, has a big stake in the upcoming bridge closure.

Hooda owns a Chevron Service station, a 7-Eleven and a Texaco on three corners of Main Street and Texas 183.

The Chevron is next to a Starbucks that has already closed because of the construction.

“As much as we want to see progress with better highways and better access, the struggle is for the business owners. We’re hoping that we can survive through the next couple of years,” Hooda said.

One of Hooda’s biggest concerns is that construction will force him to move his gas pumps and canopy at the Chevron about 10 feet from their current location.

His convenience store will stay open, but Hooda said he won’t be able to sell gas for a while.

Euless spokeswoman Betsy Deck said the city will post maps soon on its website showing additional alternate routes to avoid the construction. There are 64 businesses on Main Street and around 100 on Texas 10 and Texas 183.

“We are making specific calls to places we know will be affected to let them know about the bridge closure,” Deck said.

Steve Heyduck, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Euless, said he spent time talking to Sunday school classes with some members in their 90s about the upcoming changes.

Many church members come from north of Texas 183, and they’ve already found alternate routes to get to Sunday services, Heyduck said.

“We’ve known about this for two years,” he said.

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published June 1, 2016 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Bad weather pushes back closing of Main Street bridge in Euless."