Road work near mall finishes in 2017

"Concrete can only dry so fast," he explained.

The stretch east of the mall is being reconfigured to ease congestion and relieve bottlenecks.

The main lanes of FM 2499 will be depressed 25 to 30 feet below grade, so that commuter traffic can flow below the intersections at Grapevine Mills Boulevard and Stars and Stripes Way, both of which will be rebuilt.

The project also includes rebuilding the northbound FM 2499 frontage road and the bridges over Denton Creek in Flower Mound.

Joe Knobe of NorthGate said it's too early to know what road closures will be involved, but he said they have to keep two lanes in each direction open during construction.

In response to a question from the business owners, Knobe also said a jogging trail near Denton Creek would not be affected.

NorthGate spokeswoman Alyssa Tenorio said no lanes will be closed during holidays from noon Nov. 26 to 8 p.m. Dec. 2; noon Dec. 22 to 8 p.m. Dec. 27; and for New Year's as well.

The work, originally planned as part of the DFW Connector project, was not funded when the Connector got underway.

After the state Transportation Commission approved the funding in January, TxDOT negotiated a contract for nearly $90 million with NorthGate.

Knobe said NorthGate plans business task force meetings quarterly until major work begins.

A similar task force was formed for the Connector, the $1.02 billion project that began in 2010 and is largely complete.

Design work on the FM 2499 project is about 60 percent complete, Knobe said.

For details and updates on that project as well as work still being finished up on the connector, visitwww.dfwConnector.com, call 877-411-4212 or email

[email protected].

Also, search Facebook under DFW Connector Project. The Twitter handle is @DFWConnector.

Mobile apps also are available on the iTunes and Android stores.

To sign up for weekly lane closure alerts, go to www.dfwconnector.com/ealertsignup2.php.