The project, which stretches 11 miles from just east of US 75 to I-30, will improve what TxDOT calls one of the most congested areas in the state. Work includes building a fifth lane in each direction of I-635E, reconstructing the existing managed toll lanes and adding continuous frontage roads in each direction.
Also part of the project is a revamp of the Skillman Street interchange by simplifying the tangle of roads and building an iconic arched bridge akin to the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge that connects west Dallas with downtown.
“Every time I drive through there, I just get a thrill,” said Lake Highlands resident Susan Morgan, who has been lobbying for change at the Skillman intersection for more than 15 years. “Everybody else hates construction. But I see the progress. I get excited.”
The video below from Pegasus Link Constructors shows what the redesigned Skillman Street will look like.
Residents lobby for change
Morgan said she had been involved with the city’s long-range planning as well as a strategic plan for City Council District 10, which includes Lake Highlands. She and residents there started taking a closer look around the intersection of I-635 and Skillman.
“It was congested; the retail was declining; our favorite restaurants were leaving,” she said.
Discussions involved economic development, beautification and crime watch activities, according to Morgan.
“One day someone said, ‘You know, nothing ever is going to improve at that intersection until someone fixes the transportation infrastructure,’” Morgan said.
A chance meeting between Morgan and Lake Highlands resident Tipton Housewright kicked the effort to improve the Skillman interchange into high gear.
Housewright, an architect at the architectural design firm Omniplan, said he overheard Morgan in a coffee shop talking about the interchange and offered to help.
Housewright said he and other architects at his firm came up with what he considered to be a better alternative for the interchange.
“The intersection was too complicated and confusing,” Housewright said. “It just needed to be simplified.”
His proposal of replacing the tangle of roads north and south of the Skillman bridge with more traditional intersections caught on. With the momentum of community support on their side, the group pushed for the interchange project to move forward independent of the larger 635 East Project, which had been in the planning stages for years.
In 2015, newly elected Dallas City Council Member Adam McGough joined the effort.
“When we think about quality of life, you don’t think about streets and traffic, but those are pieces of this that make a huge difference,” McGough said of the project’s potential impact.
In 2017, transportation officials announced the Skillman interchange project would be joined with the entirety of the 635 East Project. But then the whole project soon became derailed at the state level due to its inclusion of managed toll lanes.
Morgan, McGough and supporters made several trips to the state Capitol in Austin to advocate for the 635 East Project to move forward, tolled lanes and all. In May 2018, the Texas Transportation Commission approved the project.
The video below from Pegasus Link Constructors shows what the Skillman Street bridge will look like from I-635.
Where the project stands now
Today, construction on the interchange has reduced the Skillman bridge to just two through lanes going north and south with the three western-most lanes blocked off to motorists with concrete barriers.
The western side of the bridge is being removed to accommodate the construction of half of the new bridge. Following its completion, traffic will be switched to the western side of the bridge while the eastern side will be closed off.
Two lanes of traffic in each direction will be maintained on the bridge during construction.
Dianne Tordillo is the public information officer for Pegasus Link Constructors, the construction company in charge of the 635 East Project. She said despite the heavy construction, traffic accident rates have remained mostly unchanged.
“At this time there have been no major adjustments needed from the phasing plans,” Tordillo said.
The Skillman interchange will be under heavy construction for at least two more years, according to the project timeline.
Brian Boyd, manager of Doctor Eyecare at the southwest corner of the interchange, said he is glad the project is moving forward.
“I have had customers comment to me that they don’t want to mess with the intersection here... I kind of don’t blame them,” Boyd said. “In the end, we know it’s going to be good for the neighborhood, so we’re willing to deal with what we have to deal with.”
Skillman interchange project
The most noticeable change planned is for the Skillman bridge. The bridge has three lanes in each direction, one turning lane in each direction and a narrow sidewalk on either side.
After completion, the bridge will have two turning lanes in each direction plus two new U-turn lanes added on the outer edges.
The new design also improves safety of cyclists and pedestrians with wider sidewalks, a dedicated cycle lane and a buffer from the traffic.
The straightened alignment of Skillman along with similar improvements to Audelia Road in that area are also expected to improve safety, according to project plans.
The bridge’s design involves large arches bound to the bridge by steel cables. It will also have dynamic color-changing lights, according to plans.
“The arched bridge is going to be unlike any other bridge up and down [I-]635, and it’s going to be very identifiable and noticeable,” Housewright said. “It’s a front door; it’s a gateway.”
‘Connect the community together’
Those who helped push the Skillman interchange project past the finish line have all spoken about the positive impacts the project will have on traffic and economic development.
They say perhaps most important, however, is the effect the project will have on the Lake Highlands community itself.
“Because of what the community has done to rally around this project and really make it a success, the way it’s being redesigned, it’s going to connect the community together, and I think there’s some camaraderie that’s going to happen because of the increased access,” Morgan said.
The project’s success also led McGough to realize how powerful community efforts can be.
“A small group of passionate people can really build bridges,” he said. “Between Housewright creating the vision, Morgan carrying the baton, and then all the Lake Highlands and Hamilton Park leaders coming to make the case, it proved that [building bridges] really does work, even at the highest level of state government.”
