Gaston-Garland-Grand intersection in 2020. Photography by Danny Fulgencio.
The expected completion date for the ongoing project at Gaston-Garland-Grand has been delayed a few months.
Though the Texas Department of Transportation initially planned for work to be done by this spring, weather incidents have changed the timeline. Now, the project is expected to be finished around late summer or early fall, says Kenna Mitchell, a public information officer for TxDOT.
Mitchell also says a traffic shift is coming within the next two months, weather permitting. This will include moving traffic on Gaston Avenue from inside lanes to outside lanes to allow construction crews to work in the middle section.
In the end, the reconfiguration project is supposed to address speeding and safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
TxDOT initially presented to the public five options for the intersection reconfiguration, and the department later decided to move forward with the “reverse T” option.
Construction work on the $6.3 million project began December 2021. It will provide safer turning movements and more efficient through-lanes on SH-78, create new places for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the intersection and widen the SH-78 bridges over the tributary to White Rock Creek. Traffic signals are intended to slow down cars, and crosswalk distances will be shortened.
The busy intersection sits near White Rock Lake at the boundaries of City Council Districts 2, 9 and 14. Just north of the intersection, there is a pedestrian bridge for Santa Fe Trail users. The bridge was closed for a few months during construction, but it reopened in September 2022.
A mixed-use development called The Trailhead, located at the old The Lot and Local Traveler sites, will add 305 residential units and up to 20,000 square feet of retail space, bringing more people to the intersection.
Other street improvements are being considered for the Gaston Avenue corridor, which stretches from 3G to the Baylor University Medical Center area.
